The LEGO® Group introduced a new type of road plate in January. Recently, I started reviewing my way through a few of the sets that include them. So far, I have looked at Skate Park and Shopping Street. Today, I am delving into the largest of the sets, Town Center (60292). The kit includes three large street segments as well as two half-sized ones. Additionally, this “town center” comes with two buildings. Does that really qualify it as the center of a town? We shall see…
NOTE: The LEGO® Group provided this set for review. However, the provision of products does not guarantee a favorable review. I will use my usual rating system (click here for more information) and provide my honest opinion.
Town Center Summary
- NAME: Town Center
- SET #: 60292
- THEME: City
- COST: $139.99 CAD
- BRICK COUNT: 790
- MINIFIGURES: 9
- RELEASE DATE: January 1, 2021
Town Center Quick Review
- VALUE: 66% (Satisfactory cost per brick, but not a lot of build time for the price.)
- BUILD: 60% (Some nice bricks, but it doesn’t live up to its name.)
- MINIFIGURES: 92% (Some really nice minifigs, loads of accessories, and a good character count.)
- ENTERTAINMENT: 65% (Kids will like it more. For me, the road plates are the best part.)
- OVERALL SCORE: 71% (Satisfactory set)
Town Center (60292) Review
VALUE: 66%
Town Center costs $139.99 in Canada. Additionally, the set contains 790 bricks. As such, the cost per brick is $0.177. For LEGO® sets in general, that is passable, but on the expensive side. Comparatively, my average cost per brick across all themes is currently $0.14. However, for the City theme, $0.177/brick is average. Considering both comparisons, I rate the cost per brick at 74%. You get a satisfactory number of bricks for the price.
This set took me one hour and 38 minutes to assemble (98 minutes total). At full price, the resulting cost per minute of build time is $1.43. No matter how you look at it, that is expensive. For the City theme, it remains passable, but far below average. For LEGO® sets in general, the cost per minute here is plain pricey. You do not get a lot of build time for the price with Town Center. Consequently, I rate it at 58%. Averaging this with the cost per brick score gives an overall value rating of 66%.
BUILD: 60%
I mentioned in the value assessment that the build time for Town Center is low. That is because there is not much to assemble. You put together a couple of small street embellishments, such as a park bench, some recycling dumpsters, and an electric car charging station. The set also includes only two larger builds, a car wash and a small building. Hardly what I consider the center of a town.
The car wash is okay. It features small brushes on either side with a little lateral spring action. You push a car through, and the brush arms move to accommodate the car and return to their original position afterwards. Some trans-blue fire pieces act as water jets. I do not love this build, but I am far from hating it as well. The car wash could improve by including some mechanized way of moving the car through the building.
The other main assembly is a two-story commercial edifice. A pizza shop occupies the bottom floor, and a kendo dojo resides above it. The highlights of this building are the upper floor window design and the dojo logo. The former uses semi-circular, sand green window toppers previously seen in the modular Brick Bank. The latter, while a sticker, is essentially a reversed Mortal Kombat logo. Otherwise, the building is very narrow, similar to Shopping Street. The interiors are scant to say the least.
You assemble two cars as well. The first is a small electric car. The other is a truck with a crane arm used for picking up the recycling containers on the street side. Both accommodate only one Minifigure. Additionally, neither one is particularly detail ridden. Similar to Shopping Street, I do not feel the need to keep these cars built. They are typical City-fare that do not look nice next to the Speed Champions rides that occupy my city streets.
Once Town Center is complete, you see a whole lot of street. There are five street segments (three large and two small). Those end up being the focus of the set with the buildings seeming lack luster. Consequently, I maintain my opinion from Shopping Street. In order for these new street plates to fit in these sets, I want to see more detailed and substantial buildings, each attached to one new street plate. Of all the large City sets I have reviewed on True North Bricks this is my least favorite. It does not feel like a town center. This set is too expensive to not live up to its namesake. Some bricks and stickers are nice, and the roads are great. But I did not learn anything from the set, and nothing really blows me away in terms of assembly. I rate this build at 60%.
MINIFIGURES: 92%
Town Center includes eight Minifigures, and some of them really shine. Sadly, one is a stumpy kid with unmoving legs. However, the stumpy kid (as well as one of the adults) has a kendo uniform, which is neat. Additionally, I quite like the truck driver with her orange hair and large glasses. Finally, Town Center includes the first visually impaired Minifigure. He comes with a guide dog, which is awesome. Otherwise, apart from the kid, all characters feature the standard parts. Each also comes with front and back torso printing. However, only two have double-sided faces, and only two have leg printing.
In terms of accessories, Town Center comes equipped with a guide dog and harness, an evergreen tree, a garbage can, a shovel, a broom, three bottles, two cash register bricks, a pizza, three pizza box tiles, two kendo masks, five katanas, two oars, a crowbar, a baby, a baby pouch, four mini-minifigs, a motorcycle, and a bicycle. Interestingly, this may be the first large City set I have reviewed that does not come with a single coffee mug… Taking the character designs and accessories into account, I rate the minifig design at 100%. These are nice townsfolk with a plethora of accessories.
Nine Minifigures in a kit containing 790 bricks represents a good character count for a set of this size. Compared to other City sets, the ratio of bricks to figs is satisfactory. However, compared to LEGO® sets in general, the ratio is quite good. This discrepancy owes to the fact that City sets tend have more Minifigures than your average set from other themes in my experience. I rate the ratio score at 87%. Averaging this with the design score gives an overall Minifigure rating of 92%.
ENTERTAINMENT: 65%
The focus of the January 2021 City sets really appears to be the new road plates. Any builds included in the sets lack substance. While building a LEGO® set is always entertaining, the display and play potential for this particular set are lacking. I am not a fan of the façade buildings seen in Town Center and Shopping Street. At least Town Center offers a car wash with a little more meat to it. At the same time, I like the cars in Town Center less than in Shopping Street. Interestingly, that says something because I did not particularly love the cars in Shopping Street either. The two sets have one thing in common though: kids will probably like them more than adults. I rate this at 65% in terms of entertainment. For me, the road plates are the most entertaining aspect.
OVERALL SCORE: 71%
Town Center is a satisfactory set. However, it is the Minifigures and road plates that make it so. The kit takes a huge leap forward by including a visually impaired character. I am also a fan of the customization potential of these new road plates. However, the buildings and cars are a little lack luster. Additionally, the set is expensive for what you get and represents only a passable value in my books. If road plates are what you are after, you are better off buying the separate road plate box, I think. How do you feel about Town Center? Sound off in the comments below or reach out on social media.
Until next time,
-Tom
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