Review: 75885 Ford Fiesta M-Sport WRC
Posted by Huw,
75885 Ford Fiesta M-Sport WRC is one of six Speed Champions that's set to be released on 1st March. We might have expected the theme to have run its course after three years, so the fact that we are now entering a fourth indicates that the sets are selling well.
This year's offerings include Ferraris, Porsches and Fords. This set is one of two of the latter, and is the first rally car to be produced. The fact it's based (loosely) on a car many people own or have driven will probably increase its popularity.
Let's take it for a test drive...
The 203-piece set will retail for £12.99 and (probably) $14.99, so the same as last year's similarly sized cars.
Contents
Parts arrive in three unnumbered bags, plus a smaller one containing the wheel hubs, a chassis piece and a sticker sheet.
As is usual for Speed Champions sets there are dozens of stickers: 37, in fact. This is definitely not a set to buy if you don't like applying them.
Parts
The set is packed with new and recent parts, and also many recolours in dark blue.
There are pairs of 'Left/Right Plate 1X2, W/ Bow, 45 Deg. Cut' in white, dark blue and black appearing in those colours for the first time, and many new tiles and plates as shown below. The 2x2 triangle tiles are new this year and appear in several Speed Champions sets.
Minifigure
The driver is kitted out in racing overalls which are packed with details, on the torso and legs.
The details continue onto the back of the torso.
Construction
If you've built any of the other Speed Champions cars then building this one will hold no surprises. You can get quite a lot done in no time before the application of stickers slows the process down considerably.
The completed model
As is usual for cars in this theme, the proportions are all out and it looks better from some angles than others.
The stickers are easy enough to apply and certainly add to the aesthetic, but most could be left off if you wished, with the exception of those for the front and rear light clusters: it might look a bit odd without them.
The centre section of the bonnet/hood can be removed and replaced with one that has huge great lights protruding from it, used during night stages, I imagine.
Personally I think it looks a bit daft with them so it's good to have option of leaving them off.
It's much sleeker without. Note how the car sits at a slight angle, the rear axle is one plate higher than the front.
As usual, the car is way too narrow in relation to its length and height, but that's the style of the theme so I should be used to that by now...
Verdict
If you're a Speed Champions fan then this should be on your wanted list, because it's a bit different from the usual road racers and sports cars. It's the first rally car, the first dark blue car, is packed with new and interesting parts, all of which makes it an attractive proposition.
However, if you're not a fan of the highly stylised portrayals of cars that's a hallmark of the theme, it's unlikely that this will make you one.
Thanks to LEGO for providing this set for review. It's an expression of my own opinions.
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38 comments on this article
I haven't gotten a Speed Champions set yet, even though I've been wanting to since the theme started, but I may try a bit harder this time since this car is so awesome.
Hmm, I have a few of the Speed Champions cars from the last few years, but I wasn't planning on getting this, and reading the review I'm still not! This one just doesn't appeal to me, and that light cluster just looks ridiculous.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Speed Champions sets continue for quite a while. They introduced new molds this time around, which strikes me as unlikely if they didn't plan on continuing the series beyond at least this year. Also, the sets are very well priced, and almost all of them are great, quick little builds. And the low cost of most of the sets, along with a limited number of 'flagship' sets, makes them super 'got to catch them all' collectible. (which is why I haven't gone down that rabbit hole myself...)
I think all of this combines to make a great theme that should have a ton of longevity, especially since it's not like they're ever likely to run out of source material either. I could even see this theme turning into it's own small 'evergreen' niche without too much imagination. If they keep releasing awesome sets like this, I would almost be willing to call it a certainty!
Big fan of the Speed Champions range, but would have rather had a sports car instead of a rally car, still disappointed there is no system scale set of the Lamborghini Aventador yet!
I'm a huge rally fan and I'm definitely getting this set, but let's face it, that looks nothing like a Ford Fiesta!
37 stickers on a relatively small model is good going by LEGO as well, must be close to a record.
I have loved and collected the Speed Champions line from its inception. However, its downside has always been the sheer amount of stickers required for details. 37 stickers for 203 pieces?!? That's basically applying a sticker every fifth piece.
Make no mistake, I'll definitely grab these new cars too. But the stickers are a sore spot.
I'm just wondering if it's the kids buying them for themselves, or if it's the dads buying them for them (in my case, it's definitely dad buying them for the kids :)
Also, I know stickers get their detractors, but as long as they're quality, I actually enjoy putting them on and they look great.
Good god those building techniques are amazing! One of the many things I love about this theme.
Very nice!
Looks pretty neat. I hope we'll see some more rally cars in SC in the future.
And it's neat that the stickers for the lights are on their on parts and separate from everything else. Now we wait until someone mods this into a Focus road car.
How is any indication of side view mirrors overlooked on every Speed Champions car? It's always been my main issue with this line. Otherwise, I quite like it.
I'm a huge SC fan, and this is the set of the new wave that I've been looking forward to the most. So jealous you got it early.
I would have been all over this entire series if they used printed pieces instead of stickers. As it is, I only bought one because it is a car that I actually own.
Thank you for the grey background!
Look at the rear profile of that car. I'm drooling. Just hope Lego never makes these exclusive to members at car shows (although they kind of did this year with the R.S.17 Renault F-1 Car model). They hire car designers for these models so Lego is serious about the theme. I buy them for the stickers myself :). I love all the details from the Michelin man prints to Petronas to AMG to Bugatti. I rather not pay for custom stickers on ebay myself. Fans like their cars decked out. I went from castles to cars - go figure. These are vehicles at the Creator Expert level with high build quality. Those of you holding off because of stickers versus prints are going to regret it. You're missing out on the actual Ferrari logo stickers from Ferrari itself too : )
je suis passionné de rallye, je trouve l'ensemble original, et il fera certainement parti de ma collection avec les 2 porsches
A very attractive little set, nice and chunky, which really gives it the rally car feeling. A rally car needs a tonne of advertising and although in an ideal world they would all be printed but we know it's not going to happen so we have lots of stickers.. It looks a lot of fun and I think it unrealistic to demand more accuracy/better proportions at this scale.
Looks good. I hope speed champions does go on to be a niche theme as I just LOVE the sets (see my username).
The triangle tile looks cool and the set is awesome by the price of $17.99 CAD is too high for me especially with only 1 fig
Nice sweet. They need to do a Ken Block liveried version! As well as his Mustang
I only have a set from Speed Cars, but I liked this one since the first moment I saw it. At least a rally car!! I will get it!!
Can't wait to add this to my already traffic clogged city streets! Although since most of that traffic is made up of high end race cars I may leave off most of the stickers, and perhaps the rear spoiler, of this one to make it a boring daily driver version lol.
Going to have to pick up a Speed Champions set at some point. I know nothing about cars, but they just look so damn good!
I hope that they add a Mini to the series in the near future.
I couldn't care less about (real) cars in general, but these sets strike the right chord with me: they're compact, well-made, swooshable/vroomable, and a good price.
I have the blue/black and orange ones on my desk (me calling them by color speaks to how much I know about cars... ;)) and will definitely be getting this one too.
Im especially excited for the angled baby bows in white, I've needed those since before the mould was released.
The proportions have always looked off on SC sets f or me. This looks hella nice though.
In this cases could be fun to see a photo/s of the complet build without stickers.
Way too many stickers. I would like to see it built without any stickers.
I for one can't wait for this. The 2018 Speed Champions line looks awesome - these new models made me decide on collecting the whole series.
I love this set and hope they do a few more rally cars in the next wave. We have plenty of LM cars now with more out in April, so it's nice to see something different. it would however be nice to go back to road versions with less stickers though as racing cars will always need loads of stickers, they'll never be printed on a £12.99 set.
I would like to see them make a Corsa.
I don't like stickers, I admit, but especially on a rallye car, which just happens to be completely covered in advertising, I wouldn't expect LEGO to make all these parts with prints.
Even if one doesn't like cars or the Speed Champions range in general, these sets make phantastic parts packs, especially as they are often on sale for about 10 Euro around here.
I'm glad they use stickers (although 37 is overkill). This allows us the option to leave them off and use the plethora of new pieces for our own creations, non specific to this set. Especially the triangle tile and baby bows would be useless if they were printed as they are such versatile parts! I could especially see the triangle tiles being used in a ski resort setting for signs and such. I have little interest in the car itself but the pieces will guarantee my purchase.
I already have the Mustang. Here are some pics with just one sticker applied: https://www.flickr.com/gp/140292057 @N04/Q222m3
If you change some parts on the side it does look a lot better:
https://flic.kr/p/239PMpa
Looking at the first photos of construction I see several parts that, from a functional point of view, could easily be replaced by more common parts. I'm talking about the yellow studs, the grey 'teeth'-parts, the grey circular plate under the bonnet/windscreen. Why is that, to make it a more interesting parts pack?
@Huw, the left/right-position of the taillights should be switched.
@Windjammer: They already made a (Ferrari 488 GT3 Scuderia) Corsa! ;-)
75886
@Huw, you mean it is the first Rally Car in the Speed Champions theme.
They released a Rally Car https://brickset.com/sets/60113-1/Rally-Car on 2016. Which I really like, although I never apply stickers to my pieces. And the front lights for night racing looks way better on the City model.
However, this model changed my mind about the Speed Champions theme, so I'll be buying a few.
Love the SC line. Stickers are key to keeping cost down and honestly are almost required since most of the SC lineup include race cars that have tons of obligatory sponsor livery. If the real cars uses vinyl wrap/stickers why can't the Lego version? ;)