Review: 76900 Koenigsegg Jesko
Posted by CapnRex101,
Speed Champions includes numerous renowned vehicle manufacturers and frequently introduces new additions. Koenigsegg undoubtedly belongs within this range, developing several remarkable production cars which have achieved marvellous speeds and look spectacular.
76900 Koenigsegg Jesko definitely recreates the dramatic shaping associated with Koenigsegg and exhibits impressive detail, although some apparent similarities to 76895 Ferrari F8 Tributo have provoked criticism. Fortunately, I think this model retains good qualities from previous designs while achieving sufficient distinction.
Minifigure
Despite their enlarged scale, minifigures continue to accompany each Speed Champions car. This example sports dark bluish grey racing overalls, displaying the Koenigsegg branding on both sides and including lovely stitched texture. The black accents look superb too, although integrating helmet decoration would have been appreciated.
However, this minifigure does include printed legs which differs from most Speed Champions drivers. The smiling head is particularly common but looks reasonable and an alternative hair piece is provided, as usual. Fortunately, this hair element fits inside the cockpit, unlike certain components which appeared last year.
The Completed Model
Increasing the width of Speed Champions models appears particularly beneficial for supercars, which necessitate distinctive proportions. The elegant Koenigsegg Jesko definitely exploits this updated scale, measuring 16cm in length and capturing marvellous details from the original car. The pronounced splitter is especially important, distinguishing the Jesko from other Koenigsegg designs.
The model looks outstanding when viewed from either side in my opinion, combining relatively realistic shapes beside the source material. Admittedly, the substantial rear wing is excessively close to the body, although stability necessitated that compromise. The colour scheme requires no such compromises though, consisting primarily of white pieces and including some colourful highlights where required.
Lime green accents are especially prevalent across the front, where the splitter features a lime green stripe and makes effective use of a cleaver element. The space between this splitter and the bonnet seems relatively wide, although this inaccuracy is minor and the subtle bonnet slope looks perfect. I am particularly delighted with the smooth angling around the headlights.
Eighteen stickers are applied across this model, including the headlights, the Koenigsegg logo and metallic stripes which decorate the bonnet. Fortunately, these stickers are not employed to create notable bodywork features, including the dramatic air intake on the bonnet or either door. Instead, such details are cleverly constructed using layered elements and textures.
Speed Champions wheels remained almost unchanged when the scale was updated, eliciting discussion surrounding their proportions. Huw investigated their size and discovered the scale was correct, although the tyres were comparatively wide. LEGO has accordingly developed an improved wheel component, integrating a dual-moulded rubber tyre which is thinner than other designs. Enlarged wheel inserts are also provided and look fantastic.
Furthermore, the integration of blue and yellow brackets along each flank corresponds exactly with the original car, reflecting its Swedish heritage. The accompanying lime green 1x1 quarter circle tiles, forming tiny winglets, look marvellous too. However, the windscreen shape certainly represents an obvious compromise and the colour matching between this white decoration and neighbouring pieces is disappointing.
The interior looks reasonable though, featuring twin seats beside the steering wheel and gear lever. The dark upholstery closely resembles the standard Koenigsegg Jesko and I appreciate how slopes have been integrated towards the back, creating lovely seats. Of course, the doors cannot open but achieving accurate external shaping was undoubtedly more important.
An extraordinary wing is probably the most distinguishing feature of the Koenigsegg Jesko, especially given its unusual shape. This rendition captures the shape perfectly and displays accurate stickers too. Ideally, the wing would only be connected behind the cockpit, although that would be extremely fragile so another trans-clear 1x1 round plate supports this structure from beneath.
Fortunately, this support is cleverly hidden and remains almost invisible underneath the wing. Fantastic detail continues across the reverse, including the wide exhaust which is ingeniously represented using a pearl dark grey intake element. The rear diffuser appears equally realistic and a tiny 1x1 plate displays the printed 'Jesko' branding, demonstrating brilliant accuracy.
Overall
Koenigsegg has produced numerous sensational cars and 76900 Koenigsegg Jesko certainly achieves the standard I was anticipating. This model recreates the most prevalent shapes and details from the original car, particularly around the front where the bonnet is beautifully angled. The windscreen is not perfectly authentic and introducing a more rounded element would have been beneficial, although the present design seems reasonably effective.
The colour scheme is also attractive, including some colourful accents which are exaggerated when compared with the original Koenigsegg Jesko. Nevertheless, they look great and further differentiate this creation from previous Speed Champions cars. The price of £17.99 or $19.99 represents good value, in my opinion, so I am definitely impressed with this model.
This set was provided for review by The LEGO Group but the review represents an expression of my own opinions.
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32 comments on this article
As long as they continue to make 8-wide speed champions, I will continue to not buy them. They don't fit in my city and are not pretty enough to be displayed on their own. I do like the dual moulded tyres though.
^I quite like the 8 wide, I think they look more realistic and better stand alone pieces. I also do not have a city.
If anything I wish they had started with 8 wide and hope they redo some of the previous 6 wide models.
Man that 'printed' windscreen is pathetic.
Not even close to white, yuck
This is a nice model but for some reason something about it doesn't grab me the way some of the others have. I think the windscreen is probably the main issue, when the curved glass on the original car is such an iconic Koenigsegg feature.
Looks amazing! Dunno if I'll pick this one up but it's definitely a strong addition to the line. Thanks for the review!
Stickered headlights just look awful to me, especially on a white car.
Out of this wave, the Jesko was the one I was most excited for. I really like this one, and I hope I can get it day one. It's not perfect of course, but for this scale I think it's really good. Shame about the ongoing mismatch of white pieces and white-backed stickers / prints, but they don't detract enough for me to pass up on this one.
Going 8 wide is honestly the best thing they could have done for this theme. The increased details, and often interesting building techniques, really elevated this theme to a higher level.
I'm interested in maybe getting some extras of these new wheel elements, and see how they look on last year's cars.
I'm impressed with how much of the detail is brick built on this car. It looks like there are some pretty creative solutions involved. I continue to wish they'd release those headlight shaped pieces in a trans color though, which I think would look a lot better than a sticker even if the shape was less accurate. All in all, I'm a lot more likely to buy this one after reading this review!
I'm not massively keen on this one at a distance, but I trust this theme to deliver in hand. It has before, even when a car has seemed a bit standard.
Someone once suggested that LEGO might use the windscreen from 10283 for the Jesko, which I think would be a nice quick modification once you remove the print.
@TomKazutara said:
"headlight stickers again *facepalm*"
Keep in mind, LEGO would have to introduce some fairly advanced building techniques to not use stickers, which I suppose would be difficult for younger builders. Not that I would mind advanced techniques.
Cool model and review.
While I think the larger size look more like the real cars. I prefer the smaller picked up the Lego city car transporter cheap. And gonna put a few of the old ones on there.
I was originally pretty against the 8-wide change ("Why change the scale in the middle of the product line??"), but I'm liking it a whole lot more now, particularly after the new Ford GT was revealed.
@pete_iredale said:
"I'm impressed with how much of the detail is brick built on this car. It looks like there are some pretty creative solutions involved. I continue to wish they'd release those headlight shaped pieces in a trans color though, which I think would look a lot better than a sticker even if the shape was less accurate.... "
The same goes for the tail lights. I wonder why they don't just use trans-red tiles here.
@Typhon said:
"As long as they continue to make 8-wide speed champions, I will continue to not buy them. They don't fit in my city and are not pretty enough to be displayed on their own. I do like the dual moulded tyres though."
Same. The 6-wide cars were a little large for minifigs, but still mostly worked. 8-wide is just incongruous with the figures themselves and with anything actually scaled to them.
I really like the review but I still have to disagree, this doesn’t look like the source material. Unlike other Speed Champions models, even if you squint really hard you still don’t see it. A new windscreen piece was really necessary on this, and it would have provided so many opportunities for other models too.
With the 6-wide cars, the proportions always looked weird and toy-like, and consequently I only ever bought those which I really really liked.
With the new 8-wide cars, the proportions look much more realistic and model-like, and therefore I bought all of those released last year, and I intend to buy all of this tranche too. It helps that they've stopped including pointless builds with the multipacks.
It looks great next to the Ferrari! Might have to get this one just so I can race ‘em
Next to the Ferrari it looks even more alike.
If it was red, the two would look almost identical.
Also imho it looks very little like the original car, 8-wide or not. None of the sleek rounded hypercars do. They just don't lend themselves to a LEGO recreation. Compare that with the Audi Quattro for example, which is an almost perfect representation of the source material.
I don't think I'd even heard of Koenigsegg before this was announced, but I'm tempted to get it. I like the use of minifig accessories to provide detail.(Although yeah, Lego does need to work on that color matching.)
Sounds like the name of a Star Wars background character.
@Norikins said:
"Sounds like the name of a Star Wars background character."
Jesko actually is a German first name, even if it is not common anymore.
There's even a very famous one you might have heard of:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesco_von_Puttkamer
Contrary to the Wikipedia article, his name was actually spelled with a "k", but he changed it to "c" when he moved to the US.
I hope people will eventually stop with the "good old days of the 6 stud" talk. It's over.
I get that it doesn't fit the cities anymore, but finally the Speed Champions line doesn't look like cartoon cars anymore and are a treat for car fans.
Yes, it doesn't look proportional if you have a minifig standing up next to the car but it does look great with the minifig sitting in the cockpit, and you can actually have a copilot in your rallyes and whatnot!
About the particular Kenigsegg car, I think it looks great and the designers did a great job, even if it doesn't look much like the real model :D It will be a great addition to the collection.
I see people complain about not being able to fit 8 stud cars into their City. Guess what, I can't even fit 6 stud cars into my Town. Yeah, I'm that old. But I don't mind. I got couple of 6 studs and keep them in a seperate display. Having said that, I don't plan on buying 8 studs due to obvious size difference. No matter how beautiful they look, I just can't. Damn this Lego infused OCD.
@Lego_lord said:
"I see people complain about not being able to fit 8 stud cars into their City. Guess what, I can't even fit 6 stud cars into my Town. Yeah, I'm that old. But I don't mind. I got couple of 6 studs and keep them in a seperate display. Having said that, I don't plan on buying 8 studs due to obvious size difference. No matter how beautiful they look, I just can't. Damn this Lego infused OCD."
Ah, the good old days of 4-wide. I remember them well
Seems like a pretty stark difference between how the windscreen element appears in official images and how it looks in the review photos. Maybe it’s just different lighting conditions. Worth a closer look?
Odd that everyone thinks this looks like the Ferrari. There are a lot of similarities in the hyper cars of today, and I think in the 8 stud wide size lends itself to these larger flatter vehicles. I think however Lego designers need to pick a path on the 6 vs 8 studs. The upcoming Toyota Supra should be 6 studs, the 1968 chevy and the dodge challenger the same. If we could get some scale that makes sense across the line that would make it easier. Plus there continues to be the issues of these fitting in Lego Cities.
I really enjoyed building the Ferrari last year, however I got the Jaguar iPace and its absolutely horrendous and looks terrible. Going to use it for parts I guess.
I completely agree. Any more Dinosaurs out there still pining for the 4 stud wide cars? LOL!
@johnnybone said:
"I hope people will eventually stop with the "good old days of the 6 stud" talk. It's over."
It's time for a new "MiniFig Scale" label, and start enlarging the Modulars to match!
••• If two real people sit side by side in a real car, Lego better replicate the same with two MiniFigures sitting side by side in their models. And the same goes for 4 seater cars!
••• Start making new Wall Elements, and other necessary moulds, for cockpit areas to make this happen.
What about posting a close up of the new tires instead of writing about them? ;-)
but do doors open like that one in Top Gear!
It's not like the 6 wide ones would fit into the City theme length wise anyway, at least it won't look good, since the City 6 wides are a lot shorter (and therefore actually look pretty neat). But I kinda get what you are going at. It's just, that the cars seem to end up looking way to long for their width in 6 wide.
one of the coolest hidden details ends up concealed inside the build. when building the rear section, very early in the build you have a point where there is a Swedish flag displayed. it was a nice hidden touch that i just didn't expect.