Review: 71491 Mateo and the Z-Blob Action Race Car
Posted by benbacardi,
This year brought a new wave of LEGO DREAMZzz sets based on the upcoming third season, which has yet to be released. The second largest is 71491 Mateo and the Z-Blob Action Race Car, at almost 500 pieces, and the option of building a race car or a motorcycle.
As always with DREAMZzz, there are whacky villains, out-there colours and designs, and a choice of models to build.
Summary
71491 Mateo and the Z-Blob Action Race Car, 485 pieces.
£44.99 / $49.99 / €49.99 | 9.3p / 10.3c / 10.3c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Great minifigures, and an okay race car or motorcycle with a couple of drawbacks.
- Excellent new minifigures
- Great colour scheme
- Choice of builds
- Strange angle for the stud shooters
- Car and motorcycle design a little blocky
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
Two minifigures are included in the set—the titular hero Mateo, and a villain named D-Shock. As usual with the DREAMZzz minifigures, both feature incredibly detailed printing on their clothing. Mateo's wearing an azure jacket over a black tee, covered in pins, patches, and badges. A utility belt with a large buckle is strapped across his chest, and the dual-moulded silver trousers and red sneakers look excellent. Both designs are new this year.
Interestingly, his hair also appears to be a new print—the green highlights are more prominent, though the change is very subtle. His expression is one that's been used before for the character—a lopsided grin with red and green eyebrows.
D-Shock contrasts well against Mateo, in vibrant yellow and purple hues. Once again, brand new prints have been created for the figure, with detailed trouser printing and an anaglyph 3D skeleton showing beneath the yellow button-up jacket. The skeleton continues onto the face, printed on a black minifigure head, and topped with a bright yellow mohawk-style hair piece.
Printing for both characters continues onto the back, with an upside-down power symbol on D-Shock's jacket, and Mateo's utility belt covering a large green splat on the rear of his.
What would a "good guys vs bad guys" story be without some weapons? Mateo is equipped with a large gun of some kind, and D-Shock with a handheld weapon that emits large pink spikes of electricity. Also included is a VR Dreamling, a small Dream World creature wearing a VR headset and drooling out of its mouth.
D-Shock isn't the only villain Mateo must fight—he's brought with him a Cyber Brain Spider, a six-legged (seems like there's two missing) creature with a large pixel-art-style brain for its abdomen (a new mould introduced for this wave of sets). Those two missing legs appear to have been turned into flexible pink appendages, made of yet another new part.
On top of the spider's thorax is a trans-red tile printed with a digital pattern, and one of the flexible cables ends in a trans-pink dish and can be used to trap the VR dreaming!
Race Car
The DREAMZzz sets let you choose between two or three models to build—just two, in the case of this set—around a central core that doesn't change. The first model here is Mateo's Race Car, an off-road racing buggy in bright greens, yellows, and blues. The colours in DREAMZzz sets are certainly eye-catching!
The race car has a central cockpit with a trans-green windscreen adorned with a handful of white graffiti-style stickers. An interesting pattern is created on the nose of the vehicle by the yellow and blue triangular tiles and wedges, and large green tubes run down either side to the rear as exhausts.
Another new part made specifically for this wave of DREAMZzz sets is used as exhaust fumes, and is now available in both blue and green. It'll be interesting to see what other uses LEGO (and the community) comes up with for this piece.
The rear of the vehicle is constructed a lot higher than the front, causing a strong forward rake to the design. Unfortunately, I think the back looks somewhat unsightly, with exposed Technic beams and plates that take away a little from the sleek look to the rest of the car.
The cockpit hood can be removed, allowing space for Mateo to sit inside. The steering wheel for the race car is a bright yellow gaming controller, with a circular display provided by a sticker on the dashboard.
The vehicle is named the Z-Blob Action Race Car, and Z-Blob makes his appearance perched above the car's rear spoiler, that also houses two large six-stud shooters. Due to the way the car's angled downward, however, the studs are basically fired directly into the ground immediately in front of the nose of the vehicle, and would therefore be quite difficult to use as actual weapons!
This whole module is detachable, using the current trend of a pair of clips, and according to LEGO's description can be attached to other sets in the 2025 DREAMZzz releases.
Motorcycle
The race car can also be rebuilt into a motorcycle. Deconstructing the model back to the central cockpit area, fewer pieces are then required to build up the motorcycle, which has many of the same design elements as the race car, such as the large exhaust tubes on either side. It balances well on its two tyres, as they are wide enough to support it without toppling.
The stud shooters and Z-Blob can be removed, as before, but once again the rear of the vehicle has a more "blocky" feel to it than the front, leaving the design feeling less sleek than it ought.
Conclusion
I can see why the DREAMZzz sets would be appealing to children—the bright colours, fun characters, and choice of models to build are all great to see, and the lack of a third party license means they're not unreasonably priced.
The race car in this set is not a bad design, and my son had a lot of fun building it and rolling it around—but the way the stud shooters attach so that they point at the ground and the unattractive view of the vehicle from the rear let it down slightly. It would also have been better if the cockpit hinged, rather than having to be removed entirely.
However, the minifigures are excellent, it's a decently sized set for the price, and I am glad to see this line continuing and regularly providing a source of new moulds and new colours.
71491 Mateo and the Z-Blob Action Race Car is available at LEGO.com for $49.99 / £44.99 / €49.99.
89 likes
46 comments on this article
Those neon tyres are melting my eyes.
As an 80s kid I never imagined tires in any color but black.
But here we are, they've made this ZR tire in bright pink ( 31148 ) and now neon green.
Similarly, it blew my mind when they made white tires for 3830 .
$50 is too much for what I'm seeing here. Definitely waiting for it to go on sale because I'm trying to collect every Z-Blob set LEGO makes
The anaglyph colors looks like whoever did the graphic design didn’t really understand how anaglyph 3D works, so I’m curious if it actually does anything.
@EtudeTheBadger said:
"Those neon tyres are melting my eyes."
Those everything are pretty hard on mine. That is not an enjoyable color scheme.
@JavaBrix:
I have a bag full of those white tires, and used some of them to make a snow-covered car (Best Earthcraft nominee, Brickworld Chicago 2012).
The brat car
Once again Dreamzzz shows its greatest strength in the parts design and the minifigs. That brain part is amazing and I love the recolours here, but the stars are obviously the minifigs. Printing on hair is something I wish we could see with morro in the new ninjago wave and D shock is one of the coolest figs of the year IMO. Just wish it was priced maybe £10 less and then I’d consider it.
i do wonder how the community will use the new exhaust piece (that new harley quinn comic) lol
@EtudeTheBadger said:
"Those neon tyres are melting my eyes."
Was going to say the same thing.
Just looking at the pictures hurts my eyes, no kidding.
Even back when I was a kid I was never a fan of neon colours. That's probably one reason why Ice planet and M-Tron were my least favorite space themes at the time.
@JavaBrix said:
"As an 80s kid I never imagined tires in any color but black."
Carbon black is added to tires (tyres) to increase their strength and wear resistance, so that's why almost all real tires are black. In fact, the main use of carbon black is as a tire rubber additive.
@PurpleDave said:
"The anaglyph colors looks like whoever did the graphic design didn’t really understand how anaglyph 3D works, so I’m curious if it actually does anything."
I'm pretty sure the anaglyph effect that @benbacardi notes isn't meant to be an actual anaglyph effect. These days, the color separation offset effect that was originally developed for anaglyph usage is instead used to imply digital vision distortion (e.g. through the eyes of a cyborg or in VR) in media, and I believe that's what the artist in this case was going for. That's why the separation offset on the chest print is vertical instead of horizontal - it wouldn't work as an actual anaglyph effect, but still conveys the modern visual distortion concept and is much more visible on horizontal elements like ribs in this case.
It's an Elder Brain!
I'm not too convinced on the build but daaaamn I LOVE the color scheme. Give me neon yellow in a set and I'm game.
@Ridgeheart said:
"I want to use those tyres to make a recoloured version of 31148.
Just not paired with the rest of this... do we call this a 'colour-scheme'? It seems more than just a scheme. Colour-shenanigans? A colour-conspiracy. A colour-scam!"
Color-plot, maybe color-subterfuge?
I think you put his oxygen mask on upside down:)
That set name is a mouthful!
Tamiya Mini 4wd vibes
@Ridgeheart said:
"I want to use those tyres to make a recoloured version of 31148.
Just not paired with the rest of this... do we call this a 'colour-scheme'? It seems more than just a scheme. Colour-shenanigans? A colour-conspiracy. A colour-scam!"
@whiteghost said:
"I'm not too convinced on the build but daaaamn I LOVE the color scheme. Give me neon yellow in a set and I'm game."
The duality of Brickset...
NEON Yellow
NEON Green
not good... even children have eyes.
I need to see this vehicle in UV light, it must look groovy! It just seems very overpriced, even at my local market discount (currently it's 30% off at several places, but still seems too expensive!)
Not too excited for this one (as an AFOL who has almost all Dreamzzz sets). It'll be discount fodder down the line, I guess.
But it does excite me for possible story lines for season 3!
@thor96 said:
"I need to see this vehicle in UV light, it must look groovy! It just seems very overpriced, even at my local market discount (currently it's 30% off at several places, but still seems too expensive!)"
Don’t do it! Your eyes can’t handle it!
The colour scheme as a whole is a bit too psychedelic for me, but I want those neon green tyres..
It'll need a big discount though, it's more than a bit overpriced (IMO) as it stands.
Can’t wait to use those tires on a rad looking skateboard moc!
I'm loving the colours. It's insane.
Variety is the spice of life.
@MandoEli37 said:
"I think you put his oxygen mask on upside down:)"
I couldn't put my finger on why the guy looked weird, and that's it. Official photos have the rebreather oriented correctly and I think the minifig looks a lot better. More impact than I expected.
@Ridgeheart said:
"I want to use those tyres to make a recoloured version of 31148.
Just not paired with the rest of this... do we call this a 'colour-scheme'? It seems more than just a scheme. Colour-shenanigans? A colour-conspiracy. A colour-scam!"
If you hate it, a colo[u]r crime.
Personally, I like the color scheme on this set, and I suspect that the kids this is aimed at will *love* it.
Love the colours and the tyres. Not keen on the actual car but some nice parts. The D-Shock minifig and the Brain Spider are brilliant.
Look its the new 71491 WTF set...
Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen
I like the use of 2x2 triangle tires at the front, but the best part of this set, IMHO, is Mateo's weapon. That thing has a great steampunk mad science vibe.
The colors, oh man... I don't wanna see it again. The car is not so interesting, but the bike has some potential. I may try to replicate it with my parts.
@JavaBrix said:
"As an 80s kid I never imagined tires in any color but black.
..."
As a 80's kid I love this color scheme! And would love to see new RC models with it! Like 8676 and 8675
These mimifigs remind me of the Fortnite skins. I guess, Lego knows what kids like.
I'm sure there are slope bricks, curved plates etc. to make the cockpit piece fit snugly without any gaps. Does it glow in the dark, as too bright for daylight?
Love the 90s neon - like the old M-tron windows but dialled up to 20. Would love a new space/mech/sci fi theme like this!
Hmmm, thinking that moto wouldn't be too bad in my anime-cyber-steampunk-Ninjago City. The figs would definitely be a fit.
Seems a bit pricey. I grab it when it reaches $25.
Kind of reminds me of RC from Toy Story.
Does Lego ever do spiders/spider-inspired creatures with the correct number of limbs in in-house themes?
I wonder if the tyres fluoresce under UV light? Some trans-bright-green parts glow, others don't, and this being rubber is even more of an unknown to me.
@SearchlightRG said:
"Does Lego ever do spiders/spider-inspired creatures with the correct number of limbs in in-house themes?"
31159 Surprising Spider
@PurpleDave said:
"The anaglyph colors looks like whoever did the graphic design didn’t really understand how anaglyph 3D works, so I’m curious if it actually does anything.
@EtudeTheBadger said:
"Those neon tyres are melting my eyes."
Those everything are pretty hard on mine. That is not an enjoyable color scheme.
@JavaBrix:
I have a bag full of those white tires, and used some of them to make a snow-covered car (Best Earthcraft nominee, Brickworld Chicago 2012)."
I'm very excited and love the colors!
https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Space/subtheme-Unitron
Would have liked to see this in the original trans-neon green, but still looking quite interesting.
@SearchlightRG said:
"Does Lego ever do spiders/spider-inspired creatures with the correct number of limbs in in-house themes?"
If it's only "spider-inspired", then logically the correct number of legs is however many legs it actually has. If you don't believe me, ask n'grath from Babylon 5.
@gearwheel said:
" @PurpleDave said:
"The anaglyph colors looks like whoever did the graphic design didn’t really understand how anaglyph 3D works, so I’m curious if it actually does anything."
I'm pretty sure the anaglyph effect that @benbacardi notes isn't meant to be an actual anaglyph effect. These days, the color separation offset effect that was originally developed for anaglyph usage is instead used to imply digital vision distortion (e.g. through the eyes of a cyborg or in VR) in media, and I believe that's what the artist in this case was going for. That's why the separation offset on the chest print is vertical instead of horizontal - it wouldn't work as an actual anaglyph effect, but still conveys the modern visual distortion concept and is much more visible on horizontal elements like ribs in this case."
Chromatic Aberration is likely what they're going for, I think it works in this situation. Ironically it's an incredibly overused visual effect in Unreal Engine games that bugs the crap out of me.
@PurpleDave said:
"The anaglyph colors looks like whoever did the graphic design didn’t really understand how anaglyph 3D works, so I’m curious if it actually does anything.
@EtudeTheBadger said:
"Those neon tyres are melting my eyes."
Those everything are pretty hard on mine. That is not an enjoyable color scheme."
The minifigure design does exactly what it's supposed to, it looks really cool. It's not like they ever suggested it was supposed to work with 3D glasses. Do kids today even know about red/blue 3D?
And my middle-aged but perhaps more-fabulous-biased-than-most eyes love the colors. I bought this and the roller skate set as soon as they came out, in large part to get those fun tires into my MOC options.
Well, that's appropriate seeing as it's surprising it has the correct number of legs.
I have to buy 2 of these... after that Green tires are history. And that terrible yellow. Design with car + motorcycle 5/5.
Colorscheme -100/5