Review: 31100 Sports Car
Posted by Viperius,
Please welcome new set reviewer Viperius...
Who does not love good value for money?! Anything that says 3 in 1 on the box means you are going to have the choice of three models from the same set of parts, which sounds like good value to me.
So let’s take a look at 31100 Sports Car and see if that's the case.
A sports car, a plane and a hot rod all in the same box, to me that sounds like lots of fun and certainly gives loads of playability, but more on that later. Let’s open the box and see what we have inside.
As you can see from the picture, we have 3 bags, 3 sets of instructions and 2 technics bricks (1x12) which, if were a guessing man, might be the main supports for each of the models. Having had a quick look at the parts the only interesting part, and by that, I mean non-standard, is the air intake for the engine.
This could be an interesting brick not only for vehicles, but I could see me using it for other types of air intake and even exhaust ports on extra-terrestrial vehicles.
Let’s take a closer look at the instructions.
Sports Car is the lead model with 48 construction steps followed by the hot-rod with 32 steps and finally the plane with 27 steps. OK enough of all this scene setting, time to get down to the job of construction.
Fairly Simple instructions with no fiddly bits though early in the build there is one of those mid-air waiting for a join up piece though it can be achieved by building it on a flat surface. I have seen some much more interesting one especially in MOC’s which simply put defy gravity till you join them up.
Total build time 15 mins and you have what I would consider to be a really nice vehicle for running around your Lego City. It is a single seater designed for one of single professionals who inhabit your city. On the crashability test the model was dropped off the end of the table onto normal carpet to see how it stood up. It simply bounced so no worries when the small people start stunt driving, as long as they are careful, but it goes to show a solid build with not too may lightly held parts.
Moving along to the aeroplane again very straight forward. Thing to note is the use of the inside of the wheels as the jet engines. Was a bit of a struggle for me to get the tyres off I could see this as the first use of small teeth to achieve the same.
Total Build Time 8 mins and at the end of it you have something that survived the flying test from 3 feet. First time it took some damage to the tail section but after that it landed in one piece and you know what they say. Any landing you can walk away from is a good one.
One More to go. The Roadster is again fairly straightforward though it does use a different technique for building from the sports car, it is not just use the same frame and make it look different. This is most noticeable when you see the parts you have left over.
Total Build Time was 8 mins 30 seconds (had a bit of trouble finding one of the parts, couldn’t see it right under my nose)
I have to say I really like this iteration and it may be the one that I keep around for a bit. It just looks like what a hot rod should in Lego.
Summary
So, is this set worth getting? In my opinion it is good value for money especially as you get 3 model options in the box and that has to be a good thing. The models are different enough to offer the youngers some scope for storytelling and they should keep them busy for a bit, even if it is just trying to separate the tyres from the rims to build the plane!
For the older makers then the Sports car and roadster would make a nice addition to a cityscape.
Thanks to LEGO for providing this set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
42 likes
16 comments on this article
Welcome Viperius and merry christmas. For me, I see a little bit of room for improvement to this rather loosely written review - personally I like the both concise and sophisticated written reviews here on Brickset a little better, but I will surely get used to the strengths of each individual author here.
Hey Editor,
You got his name wrong at the top: there's no 'o' in Viperius...
It's probably a "well duh" thing to ask, but can the cars accommodate minifigs?
A well-written review, but truthfully, I haven't liked any of the Creator sets that are due out, next year. There's usually at least once brick-built animal (the red and orange dragon, from 2018, was sublime), or maybe a vehicle of some sort (I bought the little sports racer in white and light blue, this year, when I was stuck at home unwell and needed something to play with. It was quite a lovely set), but no, so far, it's all just leaving me quite cold.
Great review Viperius!
Very nicely reviewed, I like your writing style and the way you share the build experience.
Merry Christmas
Thanks for the review
Pretty ordinary set though, the front half is nice but the B and C builds are lame.
Solid first review! I think I like the build experience oriented perspective. That said, there are very few pictures. There are more of the packaging and instructions than of the completed models, and the photos taken of the completed models are so similar to the angles presented in the box art that there's really nothing new to be gleaned from them. I much prefer the more in-depth work I'm used to seeing on Brickset with mid-construction photos, different angles, and commentary on build techniques. I also found it odd that there was a lot of focus on a part that has been available for a very long time now, and isn't even the newest piece in this set. It is truly a good start, though! I don't mean to be overly negative, I just wanted to make some suggestions for improvement.
Just don't know why they keep making creator race cars red. Wish it's in another color.
"(had a bit of trouble finding one of the parts, couldn’t see it right under my nose)"
*me every single time I build anything*
What a hideous set. The roadster is the only passable model. This wave of Creator is disappointing. And what’s with the fixation on the intake element? They’re putting it on everything lately. Last year’s stunt plane had two of em!
By my first quick look at this review, I thought: "oh, a review of an old set. Let's look at it later and focus on new sets". Then I realised it's a 2020's set!
There are probably some recent parts in it. But to me it looks like a 10 year old set, if not older.
I appreciate the photo showing the contents of the box as we don’t always get them in reviews. It’s nice to see if there are any parts (usually large plates or wheels) that aren’t bagged.
However, I wouldn’t worry about pics of the box, TLG has that covered in their promo pics and photos of instructions are unnecessary.
Thank you for the review.
All 3 models look good. Looks like this one is the 2nd must buy for me ijn 2020!
@Thunbear said:
"It's probably a "well duh" thing to ask, but can the cars accommodate minifigs?"
I read the official description, which says it can, although not included.
The primary build of this set reminds me of something West Coast Customs could have done.