Review: 70812 Creative Ambush

I purchased this set yesterday. I love minifigs, and the kebab stand is superb. A set plenty of good pieces.

This was the only Lego Movie set I was initially drawn to, and rightly so. I picked it up last month and its something we don't often get, what this line has gifted us with: pure wackiness and childish creativity. The minifigures are brilliant as well. the only disadvantage is the price which could have been £5 cheaper.

Wait-- Can you make a Salon and a Kabob stand out of the vehicles? If so, why no pictures of them?

^There is one user who made the Kabob and a saloon out of this set in the details page @Bezter.

^Hihi, yeah, that user is me. You can build these things out of them, but there are no instructions. It supports the idea of becoming creative yourself and not just get stuff handed to you. I really like this approach, although I've read plenty complaints about it as well.

Thanx for the review ( finally ) :)
Sounds like a good set (especially the kebab stand ) mught pick it up :-)

I can't understand why so many people complain about the lack of instructions for secondary models in sets from this series. There are three 2-in-1 sets which can satisfy that sort of desire, but the whole point is that there's more to life than simply following the directions and doing what you're told! (How many times have we all heard that things were better back in the old days when there were more pictures and less instructions provided?) If it isn't possible to build an impressive saloon or kebab stand from these pieces, why not take some bricks (and maybe even some instructions) from other sets to fill the idea out? Or use these bricks (and the design ideas provided) to enrich a City or a Western layout mainly built from other sets? The LEGO Movie sets, to me, provide the most pure fun of any theme we've seen in a long time, and the ones least featured in the movie itself perhaps offer the most free-form fun of all. They remind us that other Master Builders besides the ones seen in the movie were also defending themselves with the materials at hand and their own imaginations. What would *your* minifigures do if confronted with an army of rampaging Micromanagers and hostile Robo-warriors?

I love this set. Great minifigures, wonderful selection of parts, even stickers that actually enhance the pieces to which they're applied instead of limiting them to one purpose!

Saw the movie yesterday...liked it a lot. Loved the ending especially.

"I think the highest praise I can give it is that it does the best possible job at converting a saloon into a plane (though why you would want to do that is a mystery)."

i think this line is a good illustration of what the lego movie was all about. but backwards.

this set is my third favorite of all the lego movie sets (behind the ice cream truck and metal beard's sea cow). it's just irreverent and silly and fun, and that's what toys are all about. for AFOLs, you gotta step back and think about what it's like to be a kid again and view these sets for what they are- wonderful ideas that hopefully encourage lots MORE wonderful ideas!

imagine a kid with this set sitting down to an afternoon breaking down his lone ranger sets to make MORE wild west fighter planes! it's BRILLIANT!

and silly.

and fun.

just like lego should be.

Thanks for the review, I've enjoyed them all. Though Matthew, you might have overdone your puzzlement at the raison d'etre for the set, it made me wonder if you've seen the film yet....

And with kabobs, are our US friends getting to enjoy the other side of the more usual pyjama, portaloo type debacle? I assumed it was just a play on kebab and Bob's name, but I gather it's a variant where TLG have gone with the American choice. I guess it only seems fair when a lot of the vehicles are styled more like US versions.

Thanks for all The LEGO Movie set reviews Brickset admins!

I understand the idea behind having someone create the kabob stand without instructions and getting kids to be creative and not just follow the instructions but there are some of us who just aren't good at that. I am very creative with the sets once they are built and can do some basic mods to sets but as a kid I was better at pretending with what I had built, but had built from instructions. Maybe I just need to practice more. I just want a kabob stand for my city.

> why so many people complain about the lack of secondary models
My personal comment is not to have a detailed saloon along with this theme, which could dissapoint many Western fans. Nice to see someone who really made it. The planes are super creative, actually.

Although I would agree that this set isn't as top notch as some of the other Lego Movie models, I did like the BiPlane design quite a lot, which seemed to have a steampunk and western feel to it. The Kebab stand... not so much.

I would've liked oficial secondary models, even without instructions, just so I could see the little tricks the designers would do to pull of the 2 in 1 designs, which was honestly my favorite part of the Trash Chomper set. But that's not really a reason to dislike this set; rather, I think the lack of focus on this and other city models in the movie is the most disapointing thing. I at least wanted to see a scene where Studs was dismantling his saloon to build the plane!

Really want this set for the Kebab stand. Hopefully it will be discounted by Target sometime soon.

Thanks very much for the review - very clear pictures, and I appreciate the parts spreads because I like to see exactly what is included.

I am strongly considering getting this set, but I must confess it's mostly for the very useful exclusive minifigs. There aren't a ton of parts that are useful to me (tiles are mainly what I look for in sets and this doesn't contain too many) but the tan log bricks, bottles, ice cream cones, canopy slopes, sheet music, menu boards and dart boards should be useful (even if they are stickers...).

I don't mind that no instructions are included for the "proper" models, but they could've included different parts to make it more doable - eg actual wheels for the cart, some more bricks for walls of the saloon, etc.

Even so, I am still very tempted. Thanks very much!

I didn't pick up any of the sets, although some of the new figures were very welcome. They may have been minor characters in the movie, but they will look good populating a city, that's for sure.

I think for play sake, some of the more centralized movie sets were better in that regard. But the designers did create something interesting with these sets.

Did anyone notice the sticker on the tail fin lists the directors names.

Are they going to do a Metalbeard's sea cow review?

What's w/the backside of the MicroManager? Is it supposed to attach to something? And did anyone else notice that Executive Ellen stands out prominently from the crowd in the movie?

>Did anyone notice the sticker on the tail fin lists the directors names.

Oh, is that who they are? Thanks for the information--these little snippets are always part of the fun!