Review: 42219 Monster Jam Grave Digger and 42220 Monster Jam Sparkle Smash

It's that time of the year again to have a look at one of LEGO's annual traditions: a pair of Monster Jam pull-back-and-go Technic trucks. This brings the total to ten trucks since 2021—I am not sure why they skipped 2024?

I usually find these vehicles enjoyable to build, and my children have a lot of fun with them on the kitchen floor. This year we see the return of a previous truck in new livery—42219 Monster Jam Grave Digger—and a newcomer with a very fun-looking design, 42220 Monster Jam Sparkle Smash.

Before we dive in, let's take a look at the source material. Sparkle Smash is a sparkly pink and purple Monster Jam truck shaped like a unicorn with an all-female crew.

Although Grave Digger is a truck that has appeared before in LEGO form, this year's set is a variation called Fire & Ice, which appears to have not been an actual stunt truck but more of a display vehicle born out of a store-exclusive design. As such, photos are few and far between.

Grave Digger Fire & Ice

Grave Digger is a very traditional truck shape, and this is reflected in the Technic version. The construction is not identical to the 2021 model, but the overall structure is very similar. The primary difference comes in the details provided almost entirely by stickers, with the right half of the vehicle covered in yellow, orange, and red flames on a black background, and the left with snow and ice on blue.

The harsh central divide certainly provides for a striking design, and when viewed exactly from the side you'd never know the other half of the truck is a different personality. The colours extend to the wheel hubs too, blue on the ice side and red on the fire.

It's a shame that the truck is such a boring shape and the stickers are an absolute requirement to provide any interest, as shown by the unstickered version below. At a release rate of two a year, there are many more trucks that could have been recreated this year than revisiting a previous one.

Sparkle Smash

Speaking of trucks with a more interesting shape, Sparkle Smash certainly meets that criteria! The soft curves of the real truck's body have been difficult to match with Technic panels and beams, but the designers have done a relatively good job of it. The subtle gradient from pink to purple to blue has had to be reduced to sharply-contrasting panels, unfortunately.

That said, the stickers are pretty faithful to the original truck, printed on shiny foil that is hard to capture under studio lights. Subtle stars are littered across each sticker, as shown below in the close-up of the bonnet. The unicorn's snarling mouth is represented by two stickers on either side of the grille.

In my opinion, the bodywork looks somewhat unfinished, leaving an enormous gap beneath it exposing the rather bare Technic structure below. This area is much less sparse in the real vehicle.

The star of the truck is clearly the unicorn's mane, ears, and horn, however. This looks fantastic, the colour choices are excellent, and it does a pretty good job of replicating what runs down the roof of the real truck. I'm not sure why there are four exposed blue Technic axles, however, and the horn could do with being a little bigger and more angled forwards. The use of body panels for the ears was an excellent choice, though!

Sparkle Smash looks better than Grave Digger without its stickers, but they're still necessary in my opinion.

As usual, the two trucks are very similar in size, effectively sharing the same wheelbase dimensions. They also both sport the large Technic beam spanning in front of their wheels, which is not present on the real monster trucks but serves as an essential bumper to prevent damage when using the pull-back-and-go functionality.

Verdict

Small though they may seem in the grand scheme of LEGO, I look forward to each annual release of these Monster Jam trucks. They are predictable but enjoyable Technic builds of fun vehicles, and the pull-back-and-go feature makes them perfect for children to play with, especially as they come in pairs each time.

That's partly why I'm a little disappointed to see Grave Digger return. It relies almost entirely on stickers to elevate what is otherwise a very familiar, and rather dull, truck shape, and doesn't really do anything new or interesting above its previous incarnation. Sparkle Smash, on the other hand, benefits greatly from its more unusual source material, with the unicorn elements giving the model real personality.

I am glad to see LEGO continue this line, and I look forward to seeing what 2027 brings in a year's time to add to the collection. What I'm not particularly happy about, however, is yet another price increase for the second year in a row!

42219 Monster Jam Grave Digger and 42220 Monster Jam Sparkle Smash are both available at LEGO.com for £24.99 / $34.99 / €29.99 each.

• Buy 42219 Monster Jam Grave Digger at LEGO.com »
• Buy 42220 Monster Jam Sparkle Smash at LEGO.com »

5 comments on this article

By EtudeTheBadger in United Kingdom, 13 Jan 2026 14:11

Built Grave Digger Redux yesterday, still yet to build Sparkle Smash!

Getting Grave Digger again is indeed a bit of a let down, considering the vast range of trucks in Monster Jam; I'm still waiting for Zombie and Earth Shaker! Still, nice to see those wheel rims in blue, and it has some cool (and hot, lawl) parts. Also, Monster Jam actually ran a real truck based on the Technic model recently.

Sparkle Smash's nose could do with being more white, but otherwise it looks fabulous! I think the blue pins are to stop the mane parts from moving too much. Plus, the pink parts give me hope for Monster Mutt Poodle...

By ulibu in Germany, 13 Jan 2026 14:17

Up from "RRP $19.99, €19.99" ...

By Crux in United States, 13 Jan 2026 14:19

These are not the Monster Fighters I am looking for.

By TheOtherMike in United States, 13 Jan 2026 14:45

@Crux said:
"These are not the Monster Fighters I am looking for."

If you can reference previous Lego stuff, so can I. That unicorn is feeling the opposite of happiness.

By Lyichir in United States, 13 Jan 2026 15:32

Always love getting Technic parts in unusual colors like this. After all, while this is more of a play set, there's no reason a vehicle with pink and purple color scheme can't be every bit as technically complex as one with a more "boyish" color scheme. Hopefully we see more Technic sets in these sorts of colors in the future!