The Simpsons LEGO® journey began in early 2014, with the release of The Simpsons House. The Brick-built recreation of 742 Evergreen Terrace featured all five main Simpson family members and their long-suffering neighborino, Ned Flanders. The minifigure line-up expanded later that year with a Simpsons-themed series of Collectable Minifigures. The partnership between the LEGO Group and The Simpsons was marked with a special episode of the long-running animated series, called ‘Brick Like Me’. The following year, a second series of minifigures and another LEGO recreation of a famous Springfield location, the Kwik-E-Mart. Also in 2015, The Simpsons added to LEGO Dimensions. The Simpsons made a brief return in 2018 for a LEGO BrickHeadz set, but since then, Springfield’s brick-based journey has been quiet, until now. The Simpsons are back, thanks to the LEGO Icons, and have taken a trip to Springfield’s finest eatery, Krusty Burger.
Product Details
Set Name: The Simpsons: Krusty Burger | Set Number: 10352 | Pieces: 1635 | Theme: Icons
Number of Bags: Bags x 12 + loose elements | Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App | Stickers: Sheet x 2 | Minifigures: Homer, Bart, Lisa Simpson, Farmer Krusty, Sideshow Bob, Squeaky Voiced Teen & Officer Lou
RRP: £179.99/$199.99/209.99€/329.99AUD/259.99CAD
Availability: LEGO Stores & LEGO Online – June 1st (Insiders) June 4th (General)
In the world of the Simpsons, Krusty the Clown is a famed entertainer but will put his name to anything, including Lady Krusty Moustache Remover, Krusty Brand Chicken-flavoured Soda, Krusty’s All Purpose Religious Biscuits and of course, Krusty Burger. Springfield’s famous fast food chain has appeared in many episodes of The Simpsons and even featured briefly in the LEGO-themed episode. So this iconic location is the inspiration for a brand new LEGO model.
One of the most impressive things the Simpsons sets have done is offer a complete building. Offering both the full interior and exterior. That continues with the Krusty Burger building. It is made up of three sections which come together to create the building. The outside of the building is quite plain. It does feature a doorway, drive-through window and a strip of cartoonish bushes. But apart from a couple of fun Easter Eggs, the exterior lacks a focal point. Which is how the building is often shown in The Simpsons, as you can see from the source image above. But there have also been episodes where a Krusty Burger sign is featured on the roof of the restaurant, and I think that should have been included here.
Back to those Easter Eggs, one of which I assume is the back of the restaurant are a couple of stickers. One notes Sideshow Bob’s mayoral run, some El Barto graffiti and best of all, a Missing poster for the Krusty Burgler. Around the side of the building is the Krusty Burger grease trap, famously emptied by Homer and Bart.
You can still access the interior of the restaurant without opening it up, as the roof section can be removed. This is just a large section of plates which sit on top of the restaurant. It doesn’t physically connect to anything but does the job of covering up the building well enough.
The exterior may be simple, but inside is packed with colour and detail. Once the building is opened up, it splits into three sections. The largest of these is where guests eat and play. This area features a couple of tables and an amazing seating booth. One corner of this section also features a small ball pit. This is filled with different coloured ball stud elements. It looks like how McDonald’s used to be in the 90s. Being a fast food joint, there’s plenty of food dotted around, and how they have been created is genius. Yellow minifigures’ claws in red buckets become French fries. Rollerskates sandwiched between a tile and a 2×1 rounded stud plate perfectly recreate the infamous Ribwich.
The two smaller areas on the interior offer even more nods to the show. One side features the kitchen, complete with an industrial Drederick Tatum grill and a box of expired, unfrigerated coleslaw. This area of the set also features a menu board. This is mounted on a hinge so it can be swung away from the kitchen for better access to it. This also doubles as part of the restaurant’s wall. Next to the kitchen is a small bathroom and a booth for the drive-through window. This is the smallest part of the interior. The wall featuring the employee notice board can be popped off to find the toilet. I love the use of a Technic pin for an empty roll of loo paper.
Alongside the restaurant building, the set also features Homer’s Clown Car. During Season 6 of The Simpsons, Krusty requires some quick cash, so he opens a Clown College. After a little motivation from a billboard, Homer enrols, and some become Springfield’s regional Krusty. In his new role, he transforms the family car into a Krusty-themed ride. You can tell that the base vehicle is Homer’s normal car, despite all the added Krusty decorations. It even includes the crumpled bonnet. The patterned panels on the side of the car and Krusty’s face on the bumper are all stickered pieces. It may seem like an odd addition to the set, especially as Homer isn’t included in his Krusty guise. But it offers a different version of the car featured in the first Simpsons set.
As mentioned above, the building lacks a focal point such as a sign or main doorway, so the only way you can tell it’s a Krusty Burger is by the separately built sign. This features Krusty’s grinning face peeking over a Krusty Burger. The sign is mostly created by various plates and tiles. I must say the several ways in which Krusty’s face has been recreated are quite impressive. Some of the detail on the sign is created by adding stickers. It’s a shame it’s not directly connected to the building.
The set features a mix of returning minifigures and those appearing for the first time. Bart, Lisa and Homer have appeared as minifigures before, Homer is a little more unique, thanks to the addition of Ribwich sauce on his t-shirt. It would have been nice if the Simpsons siblings were also different from their past versions. In fact, I would have gladly seen them omitted in place of other characters, but I guess you can’t have a Simpsons set without the Simpsons.
Thankfully, the rest of the characters in the first are unique, with three of them making their LEGO debut. Krusty is featured in his Farmer Krusty character. This isn’t using the old Krusty head on a farming-themed outfit, it uses a new head mould. Sideshow Bob finally arrives in LEGO form. He’s mostly known for his never-ending thirst to destroy Bart, but he’s also Krusty’s co-star on The Krusty the Clown Show. His minifigure isn’t too menacing, but I love the way his infamous head style has been recreated on the unique head mould. Springfield’s police force is almost complete with the introduction of Lou. He also seems like a random addition, but at least it offers another unique character. Finally, Krusty Burger’s lone employee is Squeaky Voiced Teen. He’s had various roles around Springfield, however, he is currently working at Krusty Burger, which is why his minifigure is wearing a paper hat.
It’s hard to pair characters with Krusty Burger, beyond Krusty, but those included offer a nice selection of characters. The Krusty Burgler or Ribwich Frog would have been amazing, but probably a little too obscure. I do think the set could have swapped out Bart and Lisa for other characters.
Similar to the Lord of the Rings sets, it’s nice to see LEGO Icons being used to revisit old themes. Springfield is filled with iconic locations, but Krusty Burger seems a natural next step after the Simpsons’ house and Kwik-E-Mart store. Although the exterior feels rather plain, which is in keeping with the source material, the interior more than makes up for it. I’m still torn over the minifigure selection. I understand why Bart, Lisa and Homer are included, but they could have been switched out for either unique versions of these characters or completely different characters. Overall, this is a great companion piece to previous Simpsons sets and minifigures. If Krusty Burger leads to more sets based on The Simpsons, I’d love to see The Android’s Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop get the LEGO treatment next. The LEGO Icons The Simpsons: Krusty Burger set arrives on June 1st for Insiders members and June 4th for everyone else. Insiders can also get a bonus Simpsons Living Room GWP set when they purchase the Krusty Burger set during launch week (June 1st – 7th).
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The LEGO Group provided this set to BricksFanz.com for review purposes. The thoughts expressed in this review are those of BricksFanz.com and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group or Disney. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion.
