Quick look: 60450 Wheel Loader
Posted by benbacardi,
Another perennial theme within LEGO City is the myriad of construction vehicles available, and 60450 Wheel Loader offers an introduction to this world for any budding construction workers making the leap from Duplo to LEGO.
At only 81 pieces, it is the smallest of this year's currently released 4+ sets, but still manages to pack quite a bit in.
Summary
60450 Wheel Loader, 81 pieces.
£12.99 / $14.99 / €14.99 | 16.0p/18.5c/18.5c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
An excellent introduction to City with great minifigures and a fun little vehicle.
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Two minifigures are included, a male and female construction worker. Surprisingly, both torsos are brand new and unique to this set, as are the leg prints! The female worker is wearing dungarees on top of her high-vis jacket, and a dual-moulded head piece provides both hair in a tail and a red hard hat. The male worker's hard hat includes ear defenders, and he's wearing orange safety goggles.
Neither head supplies an alternate expression, but hair is included for the man should he wish to remove his helmet.
The need for the ear defenders becomes obvious with the inclusion of a jackhammer, along with a handful of pieces representing rubble. Three simple cones are also provided, constructed of just two pieces each. I particularly like the warning sign print, a take on the classic road work sign with a minifigure's silhouette!
On to the wheel loader itself. Built from only a few parts, it's nonetheless a realistic and accurate representation of a real bucket loader. Four chunky tyres sit beneath an open cab, which has room for a single minifigure inside. Lattice roof tiles represent the short steps built into the side of the vehicle for access to the cab. A geometric elephant symbol is printed on the front.
The bucket at the front can be raised and lowered on click hinges, though it can't quite reach the ground at a perfect angle. It's certainly enough for the target age group to enjoy role playing with, though.
There's plenty going on in such a small set, with the two minifigures, construction debris to be collected in the wheel loader's bucket, and safety cones and warning sign. The vehicle itself is a great size for little hands, and actually very satisfying to push around. Perhaps the perfect set for any construction-enthused preschool children out there to get them into the world of LEGO City!
60450 Wheel Loader is available at LEGO.com for £12.99 / $14.99 / €14.99.
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20 comments on this article
I like that this shows that the great new colors/branding from last year's excellent construction sets work just as well for sets with a lower age grade.
I'm 42 years old and I love this. I will probably pick one up for myself. The new reddish orange color is perfect for these torsos.
This is actually a solid set considering the target audience; the only mark against is it is a somewhat blocky base. That said, as someone who grew up during the dark ages of the Town theme, this isn’t exactly a new problem.
4+ is way too overlooked. I mean come on guys, every single piece is printed!
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
"4+ is way too overlooked. I mean come on guys, every single piece is printed!"
I have no less than fourteen Juniors/4+ sets. Which, given that I have more than two thousand sets, makes those sets a very small part of my collection. But they're still definitely worth looking at, especially given that not only are all decorated parts printed, but many of them have exclusive minifigures.
This is a great small construction vehicle for a City layout.
Pros:
- It's a wheel loader
Cons:
- everything else
I'm 65 years old and I think this is a great little set! There's always something being built or demolished in my town, so another construction/demolition set is always welcome. Too many people are too picky when it comes to these sets. Lighten up folks. It's a toy, so enjoy it and have fun with it. Out of some 1800+ sets I own, over 20 of them are from the Juniors theme. Would be more if I hadn't missed a few.
This is quite a nice model — despite being a 4+ set, it still fits in great aesthetically with City sets for older builders, particularly 60409 and 60420 from last year's summer wave (which it shares its livery and elephant branding with). The simplistic click hinge piece for the boom is definitely a step down from the technical intricacy of those two construction vehicles, but still offers plenty of playability for the target audience . And the hinged steps on the sides do a great job helping make up for the plainness of the 4x10 chassis brick. I also quite like the recolored windscreen element used for the curvy sloped section on the back of the model!
Great review! This is a nice little City Construction set, cool pieces and minifigure prints.
For a 4+ set this is pretty good! Sure, it's still simple, but apart from using the big chassis piece underneath it's all properly build up, with a good amount of detail. That single hinged piece for the bucket might not be the most realistic solution, but that's all I could complain about. And even the price doesn't seem outrageous. Compared to that fire truck from a few days ago this is so much better....
LEGO always seems to do construction sets really well and across age ranges. I love these ear protection helmets so much I picked up several for almost $1 each on PAB. This set at $14.99 is much more palatable than the fire truck but I would much prefer 60461 Tractor and 60452 Donut Truck for my kids in this approximate price range.
Back to my discordant puzzle of a life. ;o)
I have this set that I display with 60409 and 60420. The printed piece on this set looks so much better than the stickered pieces on the other two, it's not ever funny.
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
"4+ is way too overlooked. I mean come on guys, every single piece is printed!"
Wow, something must be wrong with my eyes. Every single piece? I only count two printed pieces other than the minifigs.
Miss the old one piece road signs, I’d imagine those molds have long been binned.
I'm looking forward to new backhoe set on trailer with truck dumper (8-wide) in spirit like 60409, 60420, 7998 and 7900
Forget the target audience, this is amazing.
I'm picking up a pair of these soon as I see them! Love the new outfits and that loader design is terrific.
I'll have to pick this up - great minifigures, and the vehicle wouldn't look out place among the main City line.
Not bad! That's a decently sturdy and simple children's vehicle. The exclusive prints are a nice touch too.