Review: 60500 The LEGO Van
Posted by CapnRex101,
60444 LEGO Delivery Truck was released a year and a half ago and the reception was extremely positive. I think its value was reasonable for the lorry's substantial size, though there is no harm in introducing a smaller and cheaper alternative, such as 60500 The LEGO Van.
The van appears relatively unremarkable, which should be considered a compliment in this situation, as a realistic model of a common kind of van, albeit with unusual branding! However, this vibrant livery looks excellent and several new LEGO box tiles are included too, as a pleasing bonus.
Summary
60500 The LEGO Van, 276 pieces.
£24.99 / $29.99 / €29.99 | 9.1p, 10.9c, 10.9c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
60500 The LEGO Van is pretty much faultless, though perhaps a bit expensive
- Near-perfect shaping
- Great accessibility
- Eye-catching livery
- Lots of unique printed pieces
- Slightly expensive, relative to other City vehicles
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
Nice though LEGO-branded uniforms may have been, these padded jackets are probably more realistic for delivery drivers. This torso debuted in 21353 The Botanical Garden, though it works for this pair, featuring a metallic silver badge and a sand green jumper underneath. Still, I prefer the driver's torso from 60444 LEGO Delivery Truck, with its subtle branding.
It is nice to have the minifigure head with a hearing aid available in another cheaper set, paired with a suitable hair element, while the male figure sports a black beard. These characters come with a mug and a cart, but the most interesting accessories can be found inside the van.
The Completed Model
Vans are quite a simple thing and there have been countless LEGO examples over the years, but this one looks especially realistic and modern. Its yellow and black livery, with some white bodywork towards the back, looks great and I find the vehicle's proportions very appealing, as well as the almost studless exterior.
The curvature of the bonnet and the air deflector on the roof is attractive, with the usual 6x3x2 windscreen in between. The rooftop deflector is a new piece found in a couple of January sets and I am sure it will prove useful many more times in the future. Additionally, the texture on the radiator looks good, disguising a hinge to open the bonnet.
Only the central section actually opens, revealing an ingot and a metallic silver 2x2 dish inside. This is about as basic as an engine can possibly be at this scale, although I am pleased one is included at all to offer some different opportunities for play.
There is space for both minifigures in the cab, using the new 2x6 plate with stoppers at either end, so the doors are functional. The decorated dashboard looks nice with the steering wheel, but the interior is otherwise quite simple. There is no need for anything elaborate though.
8x6 tiles form the sides of the van, printed with a pattern very similar to 60444 LEGO Delivery Truck. While I was not desperate for an 8x16 tile myself, new LEGO tiles are always welcome. Speaking of which, the van also features 2x2 tiles decorated with the LEGO logo. The designs could have been printed on 2x6 tiles, although the 2x2 elements are much more versatile.
The doors at the back open, with the pearl silver 1x2 grille underneath serving as rudimentary steps. However, the flaps on the sides are the primary means of access, designed exactly like the opening panels on 60444 LEGO Delivery Truck. Technic pins add bumps to the roof, which look a bit awkward, but they are not terribly noticeable.
A wrench is mounted on the wall and there is space to store the cart too, although I wish there was somewhere specific to secure it. Trans-clear 1x1 round tiles on the wall serve as stoppers for the opening sides, again matching the bigger LEGO truck. Similarly, the pallet is compatible with either vehicle.
Four recent City sets are represented here: 60470 Explorer Train, 60402 Monster Truck, 60454 Holiday Camper Van and 60420 Construction Excavator. These are all suitable choices and the four tiles are new, with lovely graphics. It would have been easy to repeat a few tiles from earlier sets, so I appreciate the new ones.
Overall
Sprinkling some world-bending LEGO branding into a LEGO City is always fun and 60500 The LEGO Van is exactly the kind of set to do it. Not only is the van reasonably affordable, but I am impressed with its modern style. The vehicle looks very sleek and includes all the functions and details you would expect, plus a fine selection of minifigure-scale LEGO sets.
My complaints are minor. I would have liked a dedicated attachment point for the cart and one could have been included, given the available space. Moreover, the price of £24.99, $29.99 or €29.99 seems a bit expensive relative to other City vehicles, but maybe that is understandable with so many new printed elements. Regardless, this is a lovely set, especially at a discount.
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36 comments on this article
One of the best, I love it
It's neat seeing almost identical doors on the back of the van and on the front of the front of the vintage set of the week.
Nice, practical set. The price is likely driven up by the licensee fees they need to pay to themselves.
I always appreciate engine detail in Lego vehicles. This will go great with the Lego store in my New York street.
Another pro: No stickers, but decent prints!
@GirlWoman said:
"Lovely build. I wish it wasn't Lego branded but a generic delivery truck. Maybe for fresh produce or for mail. Come to think of it I feel like most delivery vehicles you see these days are parcel delivery trucks. Lego should lean into the things kids know and see in their everyday lives."
Actually a pretty good idea. The most recent delivery vehicle from LEGO probably was 40746 Santa's Delivery Truck from last year, but I'm sure minifigs order from the internet too.
VOWOW
It would've been fantastic if this truck had a Lego set tile of the same truck. Then, we would have a truck within a truck, which would logically also have a truck tile in that depicted set, and so on down the line into infinity. In addition, if you order this set online it would also come to you in a delivery truck.
In short: It would be Truck-ception!
A great little set. I'm a big fan of the new 2x6 offset plate that City introduced this year for side-by-side seating. I've wanted side-by-side seating with doors to come standard in 6w vehicles ever since I was a kid with the 5918 Scorpion Tracker and the 4728 Flying Ford Anglia, and I always thought it's a shame that most 6w City vehicles only seat one minifig in the center. So, this is great. The whole City lineup this new year is great, but that one part fills a glaring need that's been open for decades.
Not quite a famous "Yellow Lego Truck" but I do love it.
Speaking of LEGO deliveries, the Amazon discounts tracker hasn't worked on Brickset for the past 2 days.
When did we get okay with LEGO taking such advantage of us for homegrown themes? The pricing is not “Hoopty” egregious but it’s not good.
In reviewing 2026 City sets, this seemed to me to offer bottom five value, after excluding “Rides” and big specialized piece sets. I was all ready to decry the “recent” direction LEGO was going with City pricing until I looked back at the last 5 years and saw that they’ve been pretty consistently pushing the envelope with City. So oddly enough, 2026 so far looks to be the best value in years, lol.
I get that City is one of their most popular themes so they want to maximize profitability but it disappoints me that we’re losing yet another safe harbor from the LEGO affordability storm.
I guess I’ll need to row my boat over to Creator cove or Dreamzzz inlet….at least for now…
Got this and the 60498 Tractor already, the best two City sets of the year so far!
The hand trolley should've been yellow imo.
Long time since we had a yellow hand trolley (quite rare) and it just fits with the yellow van and blue packages.
I adapted 40574-1 into a small modular building on a 16x32 plate, and this will go nicely with it. I'll have to adapt it for right-hand drive, of course!
I just bought this at Müller a few weeks ago with a ten euro off coupon. 19,99. Great value. The best part of this set is that there are NO STICKERS! Also, the piece the two minifigs sit on up front is pretty cool.
Great set, but "Slightly expensive" is a major understatement. This would clearly be a €20/$20 set being similar in value to 60498 for example. The +50% larger price might be because people would buy it anyway because of the meta LEGO branding.
… it’s the prints. The price is because of the prints. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of mystery here.
I really don't think value is worth stating in a revue. What's an outrageous rip off to one person is peanuts to someone else. Some put the highest value on design, others value the number of bricks.
"You wanna buy some Lego sets?"
"You don't want to sell me Lego sets."
"I dont want to sell you Lego sets."
"You want to go home and rethink you life."
"I want to go home and rethink my life."
I’m not into City but would be all over this set if I were especially if I could find it with a decent discount.
@sjr60 said:
"I really don't think value is worth stating in a revue. What's an outrageous rip off to one person is peanuts to someone else. Some put the highest value on design, others value the number of bricks. "
True. I think this set is great value for the price, and all prints is a massive bonus.
Every time that sack barrow piece turns up it delights me. It’s such a charming little 90s era part and I love to see it still going strong 35 years later.
@Hiratha said:
"… it’s the prints. The price is because of the prints. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of mystery here."
Cough… @AustinPowers…cough cough…alt brand prints…cough
@Murdoch17 said:
"It would've been fantastic if this truck had a Lego set tile of the same truck. Then, we would have a truck within a truck, which would logically also have a truck tile in that depicted set, and so on down the line into infinity. In addition, if you order this set online it would also come to you in a delivery truck.
In short: It would be Truck-ception!"
3221 Truck actually did that back in 2010, with one of the three types of sets it was selling being... itself. Too basd the stickers didn't have enough definition to create an endless loop.
@tisi said:
"Great set, but "Slightly expensive" is a major understatement. This would clearly be a €20/$20 set being similar in value to 60498 for example. The +50% larger price might be because people would buy it anyway because of the meta LEGO branding."
Um, no. Ten cents per part is widely considered totally reasonable and for this set that would be about $28, so $30 is at worst slightly expensive - less than 11 cents per part. And 60498 has only 204 parts so its price is not a proper comparison.
@sjr60 said:
"I really don't think value is worth stating in a revue. What's an outrageous rip off to one person is peanuts to someone else. Some put the highest value on design, others value the number of bricks."
I know what you mean and agree to some degree, but I think it is important to comment on value in reviews. There are sets I would probably purchase at full price even when it seems expensive and this is one example because I like the design so much. Even so, I have to acknowledge that it just feels a bit expensive to me, relative to other City sets.
I use the word 'feel' very deliberately because it really is just a feeling from handling the set. You always have to keep any potential mitigating factors in mind and I think the number of printed parts is one here, as I mentioned, but it is not quite enough for me.
£22.99, $27.99 or €27.99 would be exactly right, but that is not a price point used in LEGO City and £17.99, $19.99 or €19.99 would feel cheap, so I suppose they were stuck.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @sjr60 said:
"I really don't think value is worth stating in a revue. What's an outrageous rip off to one person is peanuts to someone else. Some put the highest value on design, others value the number of bricks."
I know what you mean and agree to some degree, but I think it is important to comment on value in reviews. There are sets I would probably purchase at full price even when it seems expensive and this is one example because I like the design so much. Even so, I have to acknowledge that it just feels a bit expensive to me, relative to other City sets.
I use the word 'feel' very deliberately because it really is just a feeling from handling the set. You always have to keep any potential mitigating factors in mind and I think the number of printed parts is one here, as I mentioned, but it is not quite enough for me.
£22.99, $27.99 or €27.99 would be exactly right, but that is not a price point used in LEGO City and £17.99, $19.99 or €19.99 would feel cheap, so I suppose they were stuck."
For me a set's value is always based on how much I personally like it which is, of course, the most individual opinion of them all!
Such a nicely designed vehicle, I don't go for the meta LEGO in LEGO thing so will mode it into a generic van. If feels weightier than expected for its size too.
It might be just me but same as with the lorry, I would have prefered an all-yellow truck. The shift to white doesn’t work for me and looks unfinished.
@yellowcastle said:
" @Hiratha said:
"… it’s the prints. The price is because of the prints. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of mystery here."
Cough… @AustinPowers…cough cough…alt brand prints…cough"
To be fair, while alternative brands often offer better value for money, LEGO is definitely able to do that as well. Just look at something like the space sets from two years ago. No stickers, just very good prints, fair RRPs and generally very good designs and builds too.
This set is also very good, thought I will only consider it at a discount that brings the price to between 20 and 25 Euro.
And once I have it I will change one detail - the headlights. I don't like the trans blue colour and will swap those for Trans clear parts.
@sjr60 said:
"I really don't think value is worth stating in a revue. What's an outrageous rip off to one person is peanuts to someone else. Some put the highest value on design, others value the number of bricks. "
I appreciate some commentary about value, at least _relative_ value. For example, knowing that this one is a lower value compared to similar sets gives me a hint where I would spend a limited budget. But I could also choose to ignore that commentary if I really like this one specifically.
I absolutely like the reviewer weighing in on set value. If it’s a set I’m already definitely getting, I don’t like to “ruin” the build experience by fixating too closely on that part of the review or even set pictures. I also ignore those sets on display in the LEGO store.
But I definitely focus of the final opinion from the Brickset reviewer, including their opinion on value. It may not change my mind on many sets, but it could change the purchase priority and/or give me some other things to consider.
In the end, though, as @sjr60 said, we’re going to buy what we want. I didn’t like the price at all, but I picked up the 21335 Motorized Lighthouse very early on, knowing that a future discount in the U.S. would not be expected.
As @AustinPowers noted, I really want to see this 25% to 30% discounted before I consider.
I sometimes disagree with how reviewers perceive value - I’m fairly sure I value prints-only kits more highly than most, since a kit with stickers is a kit I have to get help with, and I don’t mind minifig-heavy kits or those with large, unusual pieces like dinosaurs or 4+ unique moulds or chonky tires costing more per piece - but it’s a useful datapoint as to the reviewers overall impression of a set, even if I ultimately disregard it.
It feels almost like a shorthand for “is this as good as it should be” sometimes, and if a kit *isn’t* as good as it should be it’s handy to know that in advance!
ETA: Plus if you pay attention to how different reviewers rank value you can get a pretty decent idea of how closely or distantly it aligns with yours, and thus get a pretty decent idea how you might feel about a kit after building it.
@yellowcastle said:
"I absolutely like the reviewer weighing in on set value. If it’s a set I’m already definitely getting, I don’t like to “ruin” the build experience by fixating too closely on that part of the review or even set pictures. I also ignore those sets on display in the LEGO store."
I'm the opposite. I enjoy reading the reviews of sets I know I'll be getting, because it heightens my anticipation for the set, especially if the review mentions something about the set that I didn't know.
This set is $40 in Canada. Kind of a hose job. But at Costco, it’s only 30 bucks!
With regards to the price, here in Australia this set is a relative bargain at A$34 (US$23.90/£17.50) at K-Mart and Big W. I wonder why it's so much cheaper here compared to the US/UK?
I actually picked up this set new for A$25 (US$17.60/£12.90) on FB Marketplace.