Review: 60253 Ice-Cream Truck
Posted by Huw,
For many adult fans of LEGO, the majority of City sets hold little appeal due to their emphasis on emergency services and repetitive nature.
However, every year there are a few models elsewhere in the assortment that offer something new and interesting. 60253 Ice-Cream Truck is a good example. Food vendors are in short supply in the City range and never before has one offering icy treats been produced.
So, let's find out whether it offers a decent 99 Flake or not...
Parts
Parts-wise the set offers nothing much of interest. No new ones and only one notable re-colour: 49311, 1x4x3 brick in dark azure. It's the first brick of that size I've seen, it having appeared in only 5 of this year's sets so far.
Purists will argue that it's a POOP (part that can be made from other parts) but it does allow for a large sticker to be placed on it, as is the case here.
Talking of stickers, here's the sheet.
Minifigs
Two are provided: a female ice-cream seller and a teenage boy.
The female vendor looks appropriately dressed, using a torso that debuted in 10232 Palace Cinema and has been used just two times since.
The boy's lime green sweatshirt torso is also fairly rare, having first been used in 60153 People Pack - Fun at the Beach in 2017.
In addition to a skateboard helmet a black hairpiece is provided for him, which was first used for Finn in 2015 and 2016 Star Wars sets.
The completed model
The set has an age rating of 5+ so to keep things simple parts are provided in numbered bags and most of the building steps in the two 48 page instruction manuals involve adding just one or two pieces at a time.
Despite the low targeted age there is nothing juniorised about the completed model at all. It's detailed, bright, colourful and looks pretty much like real ice-cream vans the world over do.
That is, apart from the appendage on the roof! A quick Google image search throws up nothing remotely like it, and while it may well draw attention to the van it will do nothing for fuel consumption or driving in a cross-wind. Nevertheless, I think it looks great.
The right hand side of the van is hinged to provide access to the interior.
However, adult fingers will probably struggle to get the minifig in and out so I resorted to removing the roof. This gives us an opportunity to see inside. There's a small counter and toll on her right, and a selection of ice creams and cones to her left. Behind her are chest freezers holding ice lollies.
The window on the left hand side slides open, just like they do on real vehicles, to allow her to serve customers. A 'menu' to the left of it shows what's on offer.
The window is a little too high for the kid to reach up to without balancing on his skateboard.
Verdict
If, like me, you have fond childhood memories of hearing the chime of an ice cream van in the distance on a hot summer's day, asking your parents for 50p, then running to the van's usual stopping place up the road to join the queue of other kids waiting to buy a cooling treat, you will love this set.
It's colourful, novel and attractive. The outside is pretty much perfect but I find the interior a bit lacking. I don't know if it's the same the world over but in the UK at least the majority of ice cream vans have a machine for dispensing soft ice cream into a tub or cone (before inserting a Flake, of course!) and it was a missed opportunity not to include one here. They are usually just behind the cab and there's plenty of room for one if the largely superfluous till is removed. Perhaps I'll have a go at modifying mine.
It's released on 1st January and will retail for £17.99 / $19.99 which seems perfectly reasonable and on a par with past 'Great Vehicles' in the City lineup.
The folk in your LEGO city will thank you for purchasing it!
Thanks for LEGO for providing this set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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39 comments on this article
Seeing how 60150 Pizza Van lasted a full 3 years (retiring soon on LEGO.com) , hopefully this one will be as popular, so we'll see more food places in smaller sets.
I almost picked this up today at The Entertainer but decided on the Mandalorian Battle Pack instead, though I might go back tomorrow and get this beauty.
his awesome set will go perfectly with my Pizza Van and every time the Ice Cream van comes during the pouring rain blasting its musical chimes (as I usually does for some reason) I will go to my little LEGO Pizza Van and exchange a small 5 coin for a 99 or Fab or Nobly Bobbly :)
Shame this set doesn't come with sound affects lol
Anybody else’s parents tell them that if the song was playing that meant that the truck was out of ice cream?
@huw. In the US, at least in my neighborhood, they did not have the ice cream dispenser as you described (what we call soft serve). It was mostly prepackaged ice cream bars or snow cones (called granite in Italy, think shaved ice with some flavored syrup).
Great LEGO set overall!
First ice cream van in City but of course there was an ice cream van in The Lego Movie.
And minifigs in Town could buy ice cream from snack bar 675 all the way back in 1979.
The female vendor has a new torso, the old one that looks similar is from 3816 but has yellow at the top unlike this one.
I loved the ice cream van from the first Lego movie...
But this is ok I suppose!
This is great for a city set, but the lego movie one just destroys this
I'll probably grab it. Looks like a nice complimentary model for the old LEGO Movie set.
No, I don't think it's as good as the ice-cream van that came out for the original Lego Movie, and that page of stickers makes me recoil in horror, but it's still a nice-looking set.
Solid little set. Like others I think currently I prefer the Lego Movie truck. I have not seen this set in person yet however. Either way it’ll probably be a purchase.
Excellent set.
With the serving hatch on the left side of the vehicle it suits countries who drive on the left as when they pull over to the curb the window is on the pavement side, which is safer for customers. I would have expected Lego to suit those who drive on the other side in the model design.
^ It would be easy enough to change.
@woosterlegos , thanks for the information!
All it needs is a Ron Weasley/Rupert Grint minifig as the vendor!
All bound for Mu Mu Land
@EvilTwin blimey that's a blast from the past. Please don't make me laugh so much at 3.30 in the morning. Not good for me!
@SMC Yes, I believe the torso that appeared in the Palace Cinema was reused from a figure that appeared earlier with the Spongebob Ferris Wheel. This is indeed not the same pieces
Here in Puerto Rico (USA) we have a variety of Ice Cream trucks and while I haven't personally seen those that insert a piece of cracker in the product we do have the soft cream machines as well the regular branded assortment of lollipops.
Edit: after the Pizza Van you would think LEGO wouod have made this roof more easily removable.
I love the one in the LEGO movie better coz of its distinctive ice cream cone on the roof and more suited colors. Without stickers, this new version of the ice cream van would just look like any other normal van in the city. Not fond of that ice stick on the roof too.
I appreciated the inclusion of a reference link to “99 Flake” in the article for those of us unfamiliar with what that is.
Great review. It confirmed what I suspected from the photos I'd seen before: this does nothing for me. It feels like a mediocre MOC. A refurbished hot dog van. I guess it's the red and yellow on the roofline. While equally ridiculously out of scale I vastly prefer the mentioned Lego Movie Ice cream truck .
Was excited for this set as have a thing for lego food vendors but there's something about this set that just isn't working for me.
The truck seems too large, perhaps a couple of studs too long and the figures seem a bit generic. I think I would have given the vendor some sunglasses and a grin to match the 'Mr Chill' persona, but can appreciate the desire to include more female characters. Would still pick up at a decent discount but a different dog or another child would make it more attractive, but as it is it doesn't seem to offer as good value as similar range sets for me (eg Safari truck or 'old' pizza truck as mentioned by others).
At least this set has a lot of food to sell, not like that dreaded Pizza Van.
Best "part" of this set are STICKERS. VERY usefull for any icecream shop!
I guess LEGO is trying to set records in 2020 for "Most Stickers in a $20 or less set" and "Most sets covered in stickers".
Whatever the goal, it isn't convincing me to spend money on these type of low quality products.
Star Wars sets had printed parts 20 years ago. I don't get how it is somehow not economically doable at this point.
They made 3 new prints for this $20 set =
https://brickset.com/sets/10771-1/Carnival-Thrill-Coaster
https://brickset.com/parts/6270228/flat-tile-2x4-no-206
https://brickset.com/parts/6270215/brick-4x3-w-bow-angle-no-4
https://brickset.com/parts/6270212/brick-1x2x5-no-5
The company is losing my money repeatedly (Safari set, this one, Jurssasic Park gate) over their refusal to print things. I just don't get it.
@CarolinaOnMyMind said:
"I appreciated the inclusion of a reference link to “99 Flake” in the article for those of us unfamiliar with what that is."
I hear they are not a thing in north America!
Outside of one part (at least), it looks like it shouldn't be to much trouble to mirror the build of the set for regions that drive on the right side of the road.
About then female's torso: I'm not sure whether @SMC is agreeing with me or not, but it has the same part number as the one in Palace Cinema, https://brickset.com/sets/containing-part-6219630 , so that one must have been different to the one in 3816 , i.e. without the yellow neck.
@Huw I remember being stuck in a queue for ice cream a couple of years ago as someone who appeared to be a 'non local' (ie tourist) argued that the 99 Ice Cream should cost 99p!
Never before have I read a Lego review which discusses fuel consumption and crosswinds.
Thank you, Huw, for this neverending wonder of a website.
And no one has mentioned the ‘only the best’ slogan! Best part of the set for me.
@Bricklunch said:
"Excellent set.
With the serving hatch on the left side of the vehicle it suits countries who drive on the left as when they pull over to the curb the window is on the pavement side, which is safer for customers. I would have expected Lego to suit those who drive on the other side in the model design. "
Good observation. I guess it has to do with the packaging mainly. Cars are usually displayed with the front towards the left side of the box, which "forces" the serving window to be on the left of the vehicle as well.
I'm kind of on the fence about this one. Not sure if I like the truck yet, but I appreciate that they managed to make it low to the ground, unlike The LEGO Movie version. But I managed to scale that down quite a bit back then. https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/94461-mod-ice-cream-van-70804-alternative-model/
I like the van. Not sure why it has Family Guy on the roof.
@bookmum said:
" @EvilTwin blimey that's a blast from the past. Please don't make me laugh so much at 3.30 in the morning. Not good for me! "
3.30? 3am Eternal more like
If I ever want to use a part for something else I can take the sticker off and re-use the part. If I ever want to rebuild what I took apart? Stickers can be created or found online. Printed is convenient, but permanent. Limits the use.
Why do folks get so mad about them? I’m only a couple years into full AFOLness so forgive me if this is a dumb question.
@mr_skinny no, it was definitely 3:30 as the last train had just left...
..
.
for Transcentral.
I can so much relate to the memories of hearing that typical ice cream van chime and getting excited. I was in England every summer holiday for over twenty years, and as we didn't have ice cream vans in Germany at all this was one thing I was always looking forward to when the summer holidays were imminent. Just like Rowntree's Fruit Pastilles, proper fish'n chips, the journey across the Channel via Hovercraft, hiking in Snowdonia, visiting Chester Zoo, taking the dinghy along the river Dee, going to Liverpool, and above all seeing all our friends again.
This ice cream van set therefore is an absolute must-have for me. Thanks @Huw for the review and the happy memories!
Don't even mind the stickers this time.
@blogzilly said:
"If I ever want to use a part for something else I can take the sticker off and re-use the part. If I ever want to rebuild what I took apart? Stickers can be created or found online. Printed is convenient, but permanent. Limits the use.
Why do folks get so mad about them? I’m only a couple years into full AFOLness so forgive me if this is a dumb question."
Usually parts are printed on one side and can be turned around for reuse in MOCs where the one side would be hidden.
Easy enough to acquire an unprinted part if needed since most printing is done on common parts.
Applying stickers as perfectly as a printed equivalent is a PITA, although I do acknowledge that for some folks it's a challenging and satisfying ritual.
Printed parts add to the value of the set more so than stickers.
Prints last longer, at least for sets intended for display and light play.
And we're talking about the use of repeat stickers here, not one-offs. Even so, I for one prefer them printed.
While not a sticker fan, I like the sticker detail of the three scoops of ice cream with the appropriate changes in expression. Nice little touch.
POOP/purity aside, stickers are better-suited/more stable on single pieces and not covering multiple pieces put together. I'm definitely going to mod this so the serving window is on the right side of the vehicle.