January is still a few of weeks away and the start of 2020 not only brings a new year, it also brings an array of all-new LEGO® sets. I’ve been lucky enough to be sent all of the new LEGO Creator 3-in-1 sets hitting stores in early 2020. The LEGO Creator 3-in-1 range is an intersting line of sets, they don’t all follow the same style of build. So there are vehicles, creatures and playsets, some have Minifigures, some don’t but the common thread they all share is the ability to be rebuilt into one of three different sets. One of the most interesting of the new releases has to by the Burger Monster Truck. This is one of the playset style builds, so includes Minifigures and is similar to a LEGO City set but has the ability to be rebuilt into a off-road vehicle or a tractor, using most of the same pieces from the Monster Truck. So let’s take a look at the lead build and its rebuilt variants, in my review of LEGO Creator 3-in-1 Burger Monster Truck.
Product Description
Budding cooks can hop onboard for a great building experience with the LEGO Creator 3-in-1 Monster Burger Truck (31104) set. Kids can try their hand at running a food truck with this unique vehicle, filled with loads of brick-built details like a giant hamburger on the roof, foldable steps and a dog figure. Creative freedom – Children get to explore 3 different build-and-play experiences in 1 with this LEGO Creator 3-in-1 set. They can make a monster burger truck, rebuild it into an off-roader or toy tractor pulling vehicle, or let their creativity loose and create whatever they want. This great building toy encourages imaginative play and makes a great Christmas present or birthday gift. Unique, stand-alone models LEGO Creator 3-in-1 sets offer kids models that are detailed and realistic and encourage imaginative play. The models provide endless building and play opportunities while helping to spark creativity in children of all ages. The fun sets make great gifts for kids for any occasion.
- Set Name: Burger Monster Truck
- Set Number: 31104
- Pieces: 499
- RRP: £39.99/$49.99/49.99€ (estimated RRP)
- Measurements: measures over 19cm high, 17cm long and 11cm wide
- Minifigures: 2
- Availability: January 1st 2020
The Builds
Lead Model – Burger Monster Truck
There have been a couple of LEGO food trucks over the last few years, but none of those have been as extreme as the one which forms the lead model of the set. A food truck crossed with a monster truck doesn’t sound like the best business idea, but it certainly looks awesome. The base of truck has an excellent, yet simple suspension system, which uses a rubberized flex rod. It gives the truck a nice springy motion, without the need for the usual metal springs. In fact that flex rod element is quite rare, only appearing in two of the most recent LEGO Technic large scale cars.
The actual body of the truck is nicely detailed inside. With various cooking apparatus dotted about the place. There is a cupboard at the back which sits nicely atop the trio of condiment bottles, which I quite like. You can access all this by a hatch on one side of the truck, a pair of doors at the rear or by removing the trucks roof. This is also where you’ll find the sets best feature, an awesome little brick-built burger, which sits nicely upon a Technic beam. Another interesting feature is a set of stairs, which can be pulled out from under the truck, to allow customers to make the unnecessarily steep climb to grab their tasty Monster Burger.
Stickers are used to add details such as a menu board, number plate and signage to the cab of the truck. I think something was needed on the door of the hatch, it looks rather plain. Maybe the same logo, which is featured on the front plate would of looked quite nice. Additional details comes from a couple of additional builds. These include a pair of folding chairs, a table made from a couple of smaller tires and an umbrella, plus there is a super cute little dog. This is another trait of the Creator 3-in-1 sets, although they have Minifigures, many of the same scale creatures are often brick-built. Although these style clash a little, I do love the little pooch.
Model 2 – Off-roader
The second model you can build is a sort of 4×4 off-road vehicle. It doesn’t use all the elements of the first build, but has same sort of style, thanks to the huge wheels and colour scheme. The vehicle looks quite good, with a nice solid, chucky feel. It could be considered a little too big for a vehicle, but I kind of like that. Sure it is rather imposing, even for a 4×4, however it still looks good and doesn’t feel like it’s simply been thrown together in order to use the pieces from the first build. Plus its an enjoyable build.
Model 3 – Tractor & Trailer
The final rebuild is a tractor, complete with trailer. Now I’m not much of a fan of this build. Unlike build 2, this does look like it has been compiled with just random bits of LEGO. I think the combination of the smaller wheels at the front and the larger ones at the back doesn’t help. Although it looks a little like a tractor, there have certainly been better LEGO ones before this. It’s an alright alternate build but if you prefer the other two I wouldn’t dismantle them to try this one out.
The Minifigures
The set includes two Minifigures – a young chap and a gruff looking food vendor. The young chap is a fairly simple looking character, nothing really special or exceptional about him. The other Minifigure more than makes up for that. The Food Vendor looks more like he should be constructing wasteland vehicles not delicious burgers. I really like this Minifigure, his gruff appearance matches that of the overly extreme food truck. The Minifigures really aren’t a key component of the Creator 3-in-1 sets, merely an added bonus.
Overall
As soon as I saw the images of this set, I thought it looked quite cool. I don’t normally partake in the Creator 3-in-1 sets. Some of the playset and animal type ones have tempted me in the past, and I’ve built a couple of those. So it was intersting to build a set I liked the look of, but wouldn’t necessarily have purchased. Plus as this is a review I decided to build all three models, again something I wouldn’t normally do. I really liked the lead model and would have stopped at that, so it was also intersting to see how the alternate builds faired. As mentioned above, I like the off-roader vehicle but I’m not a fan of the final tractor build. It doesn’t feel as finished as the other two builds and looks a little odd as well. But if like me, you are drawn to the set for the lead build, you won’t be disappointed.
Set Snapshot
Pros:
- The dog is amazing
- Awesome suspension
- Great fun to build
Cons:
- Variant models aren’t as good as lead one
- Quite a few parts left over from lead model when building others
- Stickers
This set was provided to BricksFanz by the LEGO Group for purposes of review. The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing the set for free, does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
Coming January 1st 2020: UKIrelandUSCanadaGermanyDenmarkAustraliaNew Zealand
15th December 2019
Tractor build – thats a sled pulling tracor – thats what a lot of them look like – (see Scottish Tractor Pullers Club pages for reference) – its a really big past-time in my part of north-east scotland – so much so they are in line to host several categories of the UK titles in 2020.
15th December 2019
The burger van is simply awesome! Not bothered about the alternative builds…