Holiday gift guide: Off-roaders and Snowspeeders
Posted by Huw,
PerSW has chosen three sets for your consideration today:
'Tis the season, or so they say, and although it may be a little early for Christmas decorations it's my belief that it's never too early to hunt for holiday gifts. So without further ado here are my three options for what in my opinion could be some of the best options for a gift under $25 price point:
First off we have the 60267 Safari Off-Roader from the City line.
This little set was a nice surprise when I first saw it listed on Brickset and when I finally found it I was more than glad of my purchase.
The 4x4 it's a solid little build, although it's quite sticker-reliant and it takes a firm hand to get the best result. It lacks opening parts such as doors or a boot, but the entire roof of the car is easily removable and the two figures fit nicely inside, or you can put one on top of it to get the best view for a photo opportunity.
The two figures present some nice printed torsos that can adapt to a flesh-tone theme with just a hand swap and the inclusion of the baseball cap with ponytail is always a welcome one. Also it's a cheap way to get the tree-trunk minifig disguise, alternatively only available in the much more expensive Mountain Police HQ.
Last but not least, one of the main draws for the set is the moulded lioness, using the same big cat piece last seen in the Jungle sub-theme. To me this big kitty makes an already good set great, adding loads of play value and having a nice exclusive animal for the collectors.
Next we have 70428 Jack's Beach Buggy, from the Hidden Side theme.
Bought on impulse at a discount while grocery shopping, this set turned out to be a very nice build. I love the colour-scheme, the independent suspensions for the four wheels and -having no real interest in the AR tie-in game, not owning a smartphone- I really appreciate the concealment of the colour-wheel at the back of the buggy.
The petrol pump side build may be a little lacking, but putting it on a 4x4 plate to stabilize it a bit more can make it a useful and simple addition to any car related display.
The minifgures included are main characters Jack Davids and Parker Jackson, and a lone Octan worker named Scott Francis who can turn, if possessed, into a wonderful two-headed monstrosity. All three figures include nice moulded details, such as the hair+hat/headphones worn by the two heroes or the double-headed ghost piece, while Scott bring s to the table the nice -and unique, according to Brickset- printed welder mask.
All in all this set combines a nice looking vehicle with great figures and has lots of play-value, with the added bonus of being easily modifiable to remove the ghostbustin' weapons to adapt to a less supernatural environment.
The last spot goes to a Star Wars set: being the main theme I collect and fail to limit myself to I felt it had to have a spot, but the set I've chosen for this price point was unexpected even to me:
I am talking about the 75268 Snowspeeder, which may surprise you, but I think it definitely has its merits.
This extremely simple build is the perfect set for the age bracket it's meant for, while bringing to the table two figures quite palatable to AFOLS as well.
The Snowtrooper is of the newer printed kind we already saw in 2019 with the assault sets and, although still having the angry clone face, matches the ones from the newest AT-AT, and rides a very simple and sturdy speeder bike that is perfect for younger builders and has some useful pieces for AFOLS.
The turret build may be even simpler, but the dish-launcher works quite well to give the impression of shots fired and the trans-blue BURP can find its uses in any icy display.
The T-47 Airspeeder itself is a wonderful little thing, extremely swooshable and with a useful printed piece on the nose, it uses the old X-Wing canopy to completely enclose its pilot, unlike the 4+ X-Wing. Also while absolutely not screen accurate it has the best scale to go with the aforementioned 75288 AT-AT, lending itself to be nicely displayed together with it.
Finally, the pilot, also known as the reason I bought this set, also known as Wedge Antilles. This is to date the cheapest set to include him and although his pilot jumpsuit is not the cold-gear one we used to have before 2019 the prints are very detailed, and the older style helmet is just beautiful. Alas, it uses the same smiley/scared brickless face most rebel pilots use -this being almost a rebel counterpart to the angry clone-, but for this price point I did not expect it to be anything else.
So that's it, I hope you found this skimmed review useful or at least have been entertained by my waxing poetic about off-roaders and Snowspeeders.
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13 comments on this article
That Safari Off-Roader looks great, and all the extras in the set make it really worthwhile.
I bought the 4+ Snowspeeder too. I quite like the rather versatile winged base I first got with Benny's 4+ Space set, and I'm tempted by the 4+ Batboat too. It amuses me that this Snowspeeder is not much bigger than its 'MicroFighters' counterpart, but it is an efficient design to enclose the pilot. Admittedly it lacks the rear gunner, but it's still a nice-looking model.
For some reason 60267 has never been available for UK independent retailers which is a shame. I can sort of understand why we cannot get premium products but this one was and is a mystery.
@paulrothwell said:
"For some reason 60267 has never been available for UK independent retailers which is a shame. I can sort of understand why we cannot get premium products but this one was and is a mystery."
Try Sainsburys. They’ve had stock of 60267 since mid-August.
Incidentally, it looks great next to 6672.
@MonsterFighter said:
" @paulrothwell said:
"For some reason 60267 has never been available for UK independent retailers which is a shame. I can sort of understand why we cannot get premium products but this one was and is a mystery."
Try Sainsburys. They’ve had stock of 60267 since mid-August.
Incidentally, it looks great next to 6672. "
No, I meant it from my point of view. I own toy shops and have not been able to sell it!
@paulrothwell said:
" @MonsterFighter said:
" @paulrothwell said:
"For some reason 60267 has never been available for UK independent retailers which is a shame. I can sort of understand why we cannot get premium products but this one was and is a mystery."
Try Sainsburys. They’ve had stock of 60267 since mid-August.
Incidentally, it looks great next to 6672. "
No, I meant it from my point of view. I own toy shops and have not been able to sell it!"
I think that’s unfair on independent toy shops. They already have to contend with reduced economies of scale compared to Sainsbury’s/Argos and tax minimisation by the likes of Amazon. Exclusives just make things worse.
If there were an independent toy store near me, I would go there in preference to the behemoths. Unfortunately, there isn’t.
That's a real shame @paulrothwell, because it's a fantastic set, and I know that my family alone between all of us has purchased at least 3 of them, and we don't tend to get more than one of a set. This is one that I don't know why they wouldn't have made it available everywhere, because it's definitely one of the better small city sets in recent memory. Maybe they just didn't make enough of them to spread them out :(
@paulrothwell said:
"For some reason 60267 has never been available for UK independent retailers which is a shame. I can sort of understand why we cannot get premium products but this one was and is a mystery."
Same in Germany by the way. Even the usual suspects like Galeria or Smyths, where LEGO exclusives eventually tend to turn up, never got this set. And I am certainly not going to buy it directly from LEGO, unless there is some worthwhile discount or promotion. I don't need this set THAT much.
Strange thing also that it was featured on the front of the LEGO consumer catalog but wasn't to be found anywhere in it.
Brought the Safari Off-Roader for my cousin’s birthday; He absolutely loves it. I might have to pick it up for myself.
@paulrothwell said:
"For some reason 60267 has never been available for UK independent retailers which is a shame. I can sort of understand why we cannot get premium products but this one was and is a mystery."
Same in Estonia - 60267 Safari Off-Roader never showed up. Also 60250 Mail Plane and most probably several other regular sets (expected in January) from retail catalogue never reached the shelves. There was limited supply onboard Tallink ferries though.
@holdre007 said:
"Same in Estonia - 60267 Safari Off-Roader never showed up. Also 60250 Mail Plane and most probably several other regular sets (expected in January) from retail catalogue never reached the shelves. There was limited supply onboard Tallink ferries though."
Both those sets are also "missing" here in Italy, to the point they're not even in the catalogue, but I was lucky enough to find the Off-Roader at a border shop (Kompas, ex duty free) in Slovenia.
@paulrothwell said:
"For some reason 60267 has never been available for UK independent retailers which is a shame. I can sort of understand why we cannot get premium products but this one was and is a mystery."
I agree, but as somone else just said, it suddenly turned up in Sainsbury's here in the UK. So I quickly bought it! I have not seen it anywhere else.
The snowtrooper doesn't have a kama cloth? >: l
For me the set 699-1 photo safari is much better.