Review: 60478 Cement Mixer
Posted by CapnRex101,
7990 Cement Mixer and 60018 Cement Mixer are two exceptional sets, released in 2007 and 2013, respectively. We have waited many years for the next version and 60478 Cement Mixer looks impressive too, continuing the series of construction vehicles produced lately.
Like those previous construction vehicles, the model features an attractive flame yellowish orange and black colour scheme, as well as the necessary play functions. However, whereas sets like 60409 Mobile Construction Crane and 60420 Construction Excavator greatly improved on earlier designs, I am not convinced this represents as dramatic a step-up.
Summary
60478 Cement Mixer, 371 pieces.
£34.99 / $39.99 / €39.99 | 9.4p / 10.8c / 10.8c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Though not a totally revolutionary design, 60478 Cement Mixer is excellent
- Impressively realistic model
- Functions are well integrated
- Attractive colour scheme and familiar branding
- Control kob feels a bit loose
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
The three minifigures included feel very familiar, comprising many of the same parts as figures from other construction sets. The consistency in their uniforms makes sense, but I would like a little more variety between designs, maybe including distinctive tool belts and other specialised equipment printed on the torsos and legs.
Nonetheless, I like the reddish orange high-visibility jackets, with reflective metallic silver strips and printed pockets. The dual-moulded helmets also look great. One incorporates a pair of ear defenders and the others feature textured hair. A white helmet with dark brown hair is actually a new colour combination for the manager.
A few of the recent construction sets have included a printed blueprint tile and here is another, with plans for 60469 Central Train Station. I like the project manager's worried alternative face, as though something has gone dreadfully wrong! Accessories are provided for the construction workers too, of course.
The Completed Model
Though outwardly similar to its predecessors released in 2007 and 2013, this cement mixer is bigger and more refined overall. Its proportions look quite realistic and I like the eight-wheeled design, plus the typical flame yellowish orange and black colours. These and the elephant logo correspond with prior construction vehicles and I appreciate that uniformity, as ever.
The structure of the cab is very similar to other recent trucks, though that is no bad thing. The textured radiator looks good, with hinges underneath to access the engine. Unlike some other trucks, the hinges are neatly integrated here and I like the protruding bumper, which features a couple of printed hazard stripe tiles and a protective bullbar.
Functional doors are included and a new 2x6 plate with stoppers is used inside the cab, which prevents you from pushing the doors inwards too far. I miss the ingenuity of using wand boxes for the purpose in 60454 Holiday Camper Van, but designing a specialised piece makes sense and it has already seen plenty of use in the January range.
Additionally, the new plate is designed to accommodate two minifigures, seated side-by-side. There is enough space for two and the roof is easy to remove for access. I am not convinced having a sunroof would be deemed safe on a building site, although that and the trans-orange lights look good. Also, I like the printed elephant branding and the angled line between flame yellowish orange and black bodywork; another feature found in several sets.
The cab hinges forward to reveal a simple engine underneath, comprising blue 1x1 round tiles with bar and black clips. I think the texture looks quite authentic considering the engine's small size and I am always pleased to see an accessible engine included in these sets, which means another option for play.
Also, I like the printed wheel nut tiles on the wheels, introduced in 60467 Tow Truck last year. The wheel hubs are brand new though and work with the tyres created for the first in the new generation of City trucks, produced in 2024. These are designed to match the common Speed Champions wheel, with a stud in the middle, but they are scaled down to suit thicker tyres.
The mixer drum consists of two matching halves, four studs longer than the equivalent pieces from 2007 and with different proportions. While the stickered patterns on the cement mixers in 2007 and 2013 looked nice if properly placed, a plain design looks splendid too and turning the knob behind the cab turns the drum. There is some play in the Technic gear, which is a shame, but the function still works smoothly.
Like the older drum elements, a screw shape is moulded inside. Rotating the drum thus moves the 1x1 round plates inside up and down, either mixing them around or depositing them via the moveable chute at the rear. Including an arrow to show which direction to turn the Technic gear when discharging cement could be useful for play, but the model looks better without it.
The two halves of the drum are connected with Technic pins, so you can separate them to see how the feature actually works. 32 light bluish grey 1x1 round plates are packed inside and the frame at the back can fold down for easier access to tip these parts inside. You can attach tools to each side of the frame.
A windscreen element forms the chute at the back, which is reasonably successful in directing the 1x1 round plates. However, the wheelbarrow provided to catch the cement is quite shallow, so lots of pieces tend to bounce out of the container. This is still a decent function though.
A few other accessories are also included, again returning from other recent construction sets. Exactly the same printed barriers were found in 60420 Construction Excavator, while the work sign appeared in 60450 Wheel Loader and 60466 Bulldozer last year. This piece is printed too, so there are no stickers.
Overall
I have been thoroughly impressed with the LEGO City construction vehicles introduced since 2024, several of which are pictured here. 60478 Cement Mixer is another nice addition to this group, with many of the same qualities as the other sets. The whole design looks very realistic and the functions are integrated well, though fairly simple on the cement mixer.
However, as mentioned at the beginning, the prior LEGO cement mixers were already good, so this iteration is not as revolutionary as 60409 Mobile Construction Crane, for example. That can hardly be considered a criticism though and this model certainly improves on its precursors. You would hope so given the price of £34.99, $39.99 or €39.99, which does feel quite expensive for the size, but perhaps understandably, given the specialised mixer drum pieces.
97 likes
39 comments on this article
Yeah man, this is nice. I have nothing negative to say, I just really like the recent construction-line. More of this, TLG.
These sets look great together!
Yes it's wonderfull but €39.99
Honestly, ever since Chris Stamp took over as team lead for LEGO City these sets are a must-have for me. And that's coming from a 40+ year old adult currently.
~75/80% of the City sets over the last 2 years are simply amazing if you ask me for both kids and adult collectors.
Keep up the good work Chris and the rest of the LEGO City design team!
Seeing all of the vehicles together makes me want a LEGO Transformers Constructicons set.
I do kinda wonder if it really needed to be this big (and thus pricey), but that's really all I could complain about. Very nice set!
I will eventually pick this up just got to wait for a sale price. Which will happen whether it be Amazon or Walmart.
@Bacchus said:
"Honestly, ever since Chris Stamp took over as team lead for LEGO City these sets are a must-have for me. And that's coming from a 40+ year old adult currently.
~75/80% of the City sets over the last 2 years are simply amazing if you ask me for both kids and adult collectors.
Keep up the good work Chris and the rest of the LEGO City design team!"
With a surname like that you would expect these models to have some STAMPs, but, alas... :p
Great review, as a child I would have loved these to death!
@Jack_Sassy said:
" @Bacchus said:
"Honestly, ever since Chris Stamp took over as team lead for LEGO City these sets are a must-have for me. And that's coming from a 40+ year old adult currently.
~75/80% of the City sets over the last 2 years are simply amazing if you ask me for both kids and adult collectors.
Keep up the good work Chris and the rest of the LEGO City design team!"
With a surname like that you would expect these models to have some STAMPs, but, alas... :p
Great review, as a child I would have loved these to death!"
I'm counting on Chris to put a massive "Stamp" on the theme by designing a monorail-style set with the new LEGO Education Science pieces which were announced a few days ago! ;)
@ricecake said:
"Seeing all of the vehicles together makes me want a LEGO Transformers Constructicons set."
Replace all the yellow with bright green and you've got yourself some Constructicons!
Nice touch with the foreman holding the plan upside down. That would explain his grimacing face!
What is the difference between a cement mixer and a concrete mixer?
Let me get this straight, is the door stopper piece a 2x6 plate with offset studs to accommodate 2 figures in the cab? because if it's really just there to stop the door, a stud does that just as well, which is how this fairly old piece was designed...
@PeterT_AFOL said:
"What is the difference between a cement mixer and a concrete mixer? "
quote from sakrete website:
"Here’s the difference. Cement is a powder that by itself would not work well for pouring a sidewalk or a swimming pool. It’s just one ingredient used in the recipe for concrete."
The design of the new cement mixer looks great.
Only thing that bothers me is the visible
color vomit when opening the cab.
This looks really good and if I didn't already have 60018 I'd be tempted.
This series of Construction Sets (Elephant logo) are epic… hopefully more to come…
I think he's worried because he can see the giant flock of pidgeons gathering around the station construction site
Yeah it's quite nicely detailed and all, but it's also worth acknowledging that the retail price is twice as much as the previous models (20 bucks vs. 40 bucks). I mean it's a bit bigger, but I'm still not sure if it's worth that much, even correlated with inflation.
@Ideenvulkan said:
"Let me get this straight, is the door stopper piece a 2x6 plate with offset studs to accommodate 2 figures in the cab? because if it's really just there to stop the door, a stud does that just as well, which is how this fairly old piece was designed..."
Yes, the 2x6 plate has the stoppers at either end and ten offset studs between them. It avoids the need for jumper plates to accommodate the two minifigures inside. Studs would indeed do the same job as the stoppers, but you need a 2x5 space for the minifigures, so the seats would need to be raised to avoid interfering with the studs on the outside.
To paraphrase Roller Coaster Tycoon guests: "I'm not paying that much to [buy] Cement Truck 1". Seriously, I wouldn't pay a dime over 20$ US.
@Dash_Justice said:
"To paraphrase Roller Coaster Tycoon guests: "I'm not paying that much to [buy] Cement Tuck 1". Seriously, I wouldn't pay a dime over 20$ US."
Looks like someone hasn't been checking the newscycle...
I'm really enjoying all these construction sets having missed the ones several years ago. The one tiny addition I'd like, having built this set, is to have somewhere to attach or store the wheelbarrow and barriers.
This is on my buy list - so I'll get it when I find it with a reasonable discount - along with many other nice vehicles of 2026 - great line-up this year so far.
I don't know if I'm alone on this but while I recognize the multicolour parts are to apparently help to follow along in the instructions, they produce models with all sorts of off-putting colours everywhere. For model like this, I have to read the instructions and order all the weirdly coloured parts from PaB to get a model that has colour consistency. I'm only ok with this when the wrong colour parts are not visible at all on this finished model. Here, the blue part around the gear and those inside the cab are really annoying to me - they will be changed for black, grey and flame-yellow parts.
Doesn’t beat 60018 in my opinion.
I wish Lego would release a concrete pump.
I did this one years ago, sadly it fell a little short of 10000 votes…
https://beta.ideas.lego.com/product-ideas/34833271-ce21-4a06-91e4-64fc2dd493b6
I like it. Maybe not $40 like it though…
I really like this set, we bought it on 3 January for our son, who was disappointed not to get the brand-new blue tractor, which was surprisingly already out of stock at the Wijnegem Lego Store. Its design is superb. My only issue with it is the chute and its attachment, which tends to come off too easily when moved down. (And now I have to retrieve tons of grey studs falling from the table…)
Mine arrived today. Tried not to read your review until I'd built it. .....aww crap!
But already pleased everything is printed and looking forward to discovering the new parts. From an ariel view, my first reaction was - A SUNROOF! ON A CEMENT MIXER! Maybe it's re-enforced glass :o)
The new construction vehicles have all caused enormous delight in my inner six year old, and exercising restraint has been very challenging.
… If I snap and get one it’ll probably be the 60466 Bulldozer. But this one is nice too.
@MonsterFighter said:
"Doesn’t beat 60018 in my opinion.
I wish Lego would release a concrete pump.
I did this one years ago, sadly it fell a little short of 10000 votes…
https://beta.ideas.lego.com/product-ideas/34833271-ce21-4a06-91e4-64fc2dd493b6"
Close, but no cigar.
@ricecake said:
"Seeing all of the vehicles together makes me want a LEGO Transformers Constructicons set."
10358 superior, Cunstructicons inferior.
@xprojected said:"Nice touch with the foreman holding the plan upside down. That would explain his grimacing face!"
He's not holding them upside-down. Was the picture replaced between your comment and mine?
@sjr60 said:"This looks really good and if I didn't already have 60018 I'd be tempted."
Same here.
@CapnRex101 said:
"I like the project manager's worried alternative face, as though something has gone dreadfully wrong!"
I think he just realized that the scale ratio shown on the architect's drawing is 1:1, so either the drawing needs to be completely revised to inform the correct ratio and actual dimensions of the station (and all the concrete will be lost), or the scale is correct and he brought a cement mixer to build a sculpture of a station (and *almost* all the concrete will be lost)
@CapnRex101 said:
" @Ideenvulkan said:
"Let me get this straight, is the door stopper piece a 2x6 plate with offset studs to accommodate 2 figures in the cab? because if it's really just there to stop the door, a stud does that just as well, which is how this fairly old piece was designed..."
Yes, the 2x6 plate has the stoppers at either end and ten offset studs between them. It avoids the need for jumper plates to accommodate the two minifigures inside. Studs would indeed do the same job as the stoppers, but you need a 2x5 space for the minifigures, so the seats would need to be raised to avoid interfering with the studs on the outside."
It also avoids the need to go out to an 8 wide profile for the required internal space, if you wanted to not use jumper plates.
I like this new piece, and i am kinda surprised they didn't use it for the taxi build. That could have allowed it to be a 4 seater vehicle, and have a set of front and back doors.
whats a control kob? (negative point in the box at the top)
@Milocubed said:
"whats a control kob? (negative point in the box at the top)"
Knob.
@TheOtherMike said:"He's not holding them upside-down. Was the picture replaced between your comment and mine?"
Top pic. It's right side up in the minifig close-up.
As for that new piece, sounds useful, though I wonder if it would have been even better if instead of one 2x6 piece, it would have been a couple of 2x3 pieces, which would offer more flexibility. But then center couple of studs would have been an issue....
(though.......how about a 2x2.5 piece (or even a 2x1.5), and a 1x2 with offset antistuds to place inbetween?)
Thank you for the review! What I see is a great toy, but I don’t see 40€ worth. Lego gave us some extras and three minifigs, I can acknowledge that. But these are City minifigs and not Star Wars minifigs, so their value in my book is 1,50€. There are many very small parts and I personally find the door solution with the 1x1 round plate questionable und the inclusion of many blue parts not ideal, both for looks and rebuilding. Also I noticed inflation, but I believe it’s not a bold move to tell a company with 2B net profit, that this is a 30€ toy.
@xprojected said:
" @TheOtherMike said:"He's not holding them upside-down. Was the picture replaced between your comment and mine?"
Top pic. It's right side up in the minifig close-up."
Ah, now I see it.
@WizardOfOss said:"As for that new piece, sounds useful, though I wonder if it would have been even better if instead of one 2x6 piece, it would have been a couple of 2x3 pieces, which would offer more flexibility. But then center couple of studs would have been an issue....
(though.......how about a 2x2.5 piece (or even a 2x1.5), and a 1x2 with offset antistuds to place inbetween?)"
Your first suggestion would have nothing to keep the door from going into the cab when you closed it, and unless you're talking about a piece I can't think of with the second, that would still mean a new mold.