The Donut Shop Opening (60233) set came out in 2019. However, I waited a while to pick it up. Partly, that was due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Stores closed for months more than once. Consequently, my usual deal hunting did not happen. The first lockdown in my area eased up close to my birthday. I used the opportunity to go shopping. Local stores initially only had stock of pre-pandemic sets. Therefore, I decided to knock the Donut Shop Opening off my wish list. Now that my region is in lockdown again, I found the time to actually build the kit.
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DONUT SHOP OPENING SUMMARY
- NAME: Donut Shop Opening
- SET #: 60233
- THEME: City
- COST: $119.99 CAD
- BRICK COUNT: 790
- MINIFIGURES: 10
- RELEASE DATE: August 1, 2019
DONUT SHOP OPENING QUICK REVIEW
- VALUE: 75% (Good cost-per-brick, but not a lot of build time for the price.)
- BUILD: 70% (Too many vehicles cost the buildings too much in terms of detail.)
- MINIFIGURES: 89% (Large number of Minifigures and accessories, but they are generic.)
- ENTERTAINMENT: 85% (This set inspired a MOC project for me, but kids might like it more.)
- OVERALL SCORE: 80%
DONUT SHOP OPENING (60233) REVIEW
VALUE: 75%
Donut Shop Opening costs $119.99 in Canada and comes with 790 pieces. Consequently, the cost-per-brick is $0.152. By comparison, my average cost-per-brick is currently $0.14 across all themes. For City alone, my average is $0.171. Therefore, this set is a little on the pricey side when compared to other themes. However, the cost-per-brick is better than the average City set. Compared to my overall average, I rate this set at 76%. Compared only to City sets, it earns 86%. Subsequently, I rate the value-per-brick at 81%.
In total, Donut Shop Opening took one hour and 45 minutes (105 minutes in all) to build. At full price, the cost-per-minute of build time is $1.14. Comparatively, my average cost-per-minute is $0.83. Compared to other themes, this build time is expensive. I rate it at 64%. Even compared to other City sets, the build time remains pricey. My average for the theme is $1.04/minute. Therefore, compared only to its own theme, it earns 74%. Subsequently, the overall value-per-minute of build time is 69%. Averaging this with the value-per-brick score gives a final score of 75%.
BUILD: 70%
Donut Shop Opening is a typical large City set. It comes with a lot of small builds that are not incredibly detailed. However, I like more about this set than I dislike. Perhaps the only build that I do not like is the taxi. Firstly, the car is too narrow. The wheels stick out far from under the frame of the car. Additionally, the design is simplistic right down to the lack of doors.
While I do not dislike it, I am also not crazy about the super lift truck. The design is good enough. The cab has doors, and the crane arm is fully functional. However, I do not need more vehicles. The focus of a set like this should be the buildings. Every vehicle thrown into the set takes detail away from the buildings. A set like this is meant to build up a LEGO® city. To do that, you need nice buildings. The City theme has enough stand-alone vehicle sets already. Three car builds in a kit like this is excessive. On the plus side, I am pleased Donut Shop Opening does not include a helicopter.
Donut Shop Opening (60233) comes with too many vehicles, using up bricks that could make the buildings more detailed.
The third car included is a news van. I like this one. For a side-build, it is nicely detailed. I especially like that the back of the van comes with printed computer bricks. My one disappointment is that the cab of this car does not have doors. Otherwise, the design proportions work well for Minifigures and the car looks nice.
Donut Shop Opening includes two buildings. The first is the namesake donut shop. It is small, but the exterior detailing is nice. I like the blue arch design. It applies a Technic panel piece in an interesting new way. Additionally, the donut sign for the roof is amazing. The interior has a donut display case, a coffee machine, and one table with two chairs. The menu sticker is useful too. On top of that, the donut shop has a street vendor bicycle. I love that little build. It has nice signage, travel mugs, and treats.
The namesake donut shop and coffee street cart at highlights of this set.
The final build is a toy store. It is okay. The interior is almost empty though. The exterior has a box store look which works. However, the build has no clever new techniques or piece use. Despite using stickers, the signage is fun. Additionally, the store front does not look bad despite its simplicity.
Ultimately, the donut shop build and its street cart are the highlights of this set. I felt inspired by the designs. The news van is a close second. Third, I like the toy shop. While I have nothing major against the super lift truck, I think it wastes bricks in this set. The same is true of the taxi. I wish these large City sets just focused on buildings sometimes. I do not understand the need to constantly fill them with vehicles. Especially undetailed vehicles. This set loses a point for having too many vehicles that detract from the building details. The taxi is another point gone. Small issues like missing car doors and the largely empty toy store cost this set a final point. Overall, I rate the build at 7/10 (70%).
MINIFIGURES: 89%
Donut Shop Opening comes with ten Minifigures. One of them is a stumpy child with unmoving legs. I do not like those. However, one out of ten is not bad. The rest come equipped with all the standard minifig parts. Additionally, they all have front and back torso printing. None of them have leg printing though, and only one has a double-sided face. The characters are good city fillers, but not particularly detailed. The set has a lot of accessories though. In fact, there are 34 interesting pieces. You get two regular cups, two travel cups, 11 assorted pastry tiles, a bicycle, five computer pieces, a crowbar, a net, a video camera, two microphones, a helmet, a motorbike, handcuffs, a skateboard, an extra baseball cap, a guitar, a teddy bear, and a money tile. Taking the designs and accessories into consideration, I rate this section of the review at 89%.
Ten Minifigures in a 790-piece kit is good. The brick-to-fig ration works out to 79:1. By comparison, my average brick-to-fig ratio is 144:1. Therefore, compared to all the sets I have reviewed, you get a lot of Minifigures for a set this size. I rate that at 93%. However, the City theme tends to be Minifigure heavy. Looking at just other City sets, my average brick-to-fig ratio is 84:1. In that regard, you still get a lot of characters, but the score is 82%. As such, the overall ratio score works out to 88%. Taken with the design score, Donut Shop Opening earns a Minifigure rating of 89%.
ENTERTAINMENT: 85%
I doubt Donut Shop Opening will make an unmodified appearance in many AFOL cities. The buildings have open backs and lack detail. However, the set still offers a lot. As mentioned earlier, I like the donut shop and street cart. Even though the back of the store is open, the façade inspired me. I have a small corner in my latest MOC that needs filling. Honestly, I have struggled with what to put in the space. Then I remembered this set sitting in my pile of shame. The donut shop inspired me to finally build the set so that I can modify that design for my “builder’s block” space. Additionally, even though the Minifigures are not incredibly detailed, you get a lot of characters to populate your city. I rate the AFOL score at 4/5 (80%).
The buildings and cars suit a KFOL city layout better. I had lots of open backed structures in my city as kid. They did not bother me very much back then. Kids dreaming of building their own town will get a lot to work with in Donut Shop Opening. It is not the most action-packed set, but there is a lot to build. I rate the KFOL score at 4.5/5 (90%). Averaging the KFOL and AFOL scores gives an overall entertainment rating of 85%.
OVERALL SCORE: 80%
I like big City sets like this because they always give at least one building façade that I can incorporate into my own MOC projects. Donut Shop Opening (60233) did not disappoint on that front. Additionally, some of the smaller builds will find their way into my city as well. I love the coffee street cart and the news van. The set also comes with loads of accessories and generic townsfolk to help fill out my own MOC shops. However, the set is a little expensive for what you get. I do not think the price is terrible, but I do not think it is good either. Satisfactory is an apt description. Ultimately, Donut Shop Opening offers city builders a good base to build from and work with. I recommend waiting for a sale though. What are your thoughts? Comment below or reach out on social media.
Until next time,
-Tom
What do others think?
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