Review: 40488 Coffee Cart
Posted by Huw,
The citizens of LEGO City are well served by a variety of street vendors peddling ice creams, hot dogs and burgers but I don't think there's been a dedicated coffee seller until now.
To address this obvious gap in the market, 40488 Coffee Cart has just been released and is available as a gift with purchase at LEGO.com this week.
The cart itself is 8-wide and is fitted with a ball joint at the end to enable it to be attached to a vehicle for towing.
The large coffee cup sign at the top makes it quite clear what the cart is selling. Unfortunately it does not fold down over the serving hatch, or backwards to reduce drag when towing.
The selection of beverages available is shown on a sticker on the left of the van and the prices are shown on the one on the right. It looks as if everything costs 11 and is available either hot or cold.
The roof comes off to reveal the interior. At the back there's a couple of coffee machines and a silver mug, which was introduced in that colour this year.
The cart has an attractive circular profile formed using 1x3 curved slopes.
The barista's torso was introduced earlier this year in 21325 Medieval Blacksmith. The customer's colourful hair first appeared in a Friends set, 41391 Heartlake City Hair Salon, appropriately!
Other interesting parts in the set include the mobile phone printed tile that was introduced earlier this year and the colourful parasol dish.
It's a shame that it's not going to be very practical to actually tow it anywhere and there's no way to secure it overnight but overall it's a cool and colourful little set that will provide a much-needed service for your minifigures.
40488 Coffee Cart is available for just seven days so if the citizens of your LEGO City or modular street require a caffeine hit now would be a good time to place an order at LEGO.com.
Thanks to LEGO for providing the set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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47 comments on this article
Looks like the Coffee Cart sells blue milk!
That torso is new to the Blacksmith's shop. It's second appearance is this set.
@Huw said:
"The barista's torso is new in this set."
Uhm, isn't that the one in 21325 ?
EDIT: Bah, got ninja'd by Murdoch17.
11.xx for a cup??? Get outta here!
11 DKR is about $1.70 so that's not a bad deal!
"All opinions expressed are my own." Shouldn't that be "all opinions espresso-ed?"
"At the back there's a couple of coffee machines and a silver mug"
I think there is one coffee machine and one grinder ;-)
There has been a coffee kiosk previously in Bean There, Donut That 40358 which resembles more of the type of coffee shop found in American hospital cafes.
I believe It's actually a grinder and an espresso machine in the cart
Lego city is now part of the cashless society- since Lego currency is only available in coins of 10, 20, 30 and 40 and notes of 100, there's no way to pay for a single coffee which costs 11. I guess that's what the mobile phone is for.
^ looks more like an aliminium jug for frothing up the milk in to me
The silver cup is indeed a milk frothing jug, good catch! And the machines are an espresso machine on the left, coffee bean grinder on the right. :)
The perfect GWP for coffee lovers. I was almost tempted to buy something in the Store too to get a second one but the month is not over yet.
Did anyone else notice how the coffee price went up from -.99 to 11.- LEGO money in just 4 years!?
Nope. Doesn't really stand out to me. For a start, azure blue is not a colour I'd associate with hot coffee. The red / white / blue colour scheme might work if it wasn't messed up by random bits of tan, black and grey. Personally I think they should have gone with something simpler like just red and black, with maybe tan or dark tan for the serving bar.
The wheelbase looks too wide and squat, like it's collapsed. And as has been mentioned, the fact that it doesn't have a working closable hatch counts against it.
Those mini-figs certainly capture the university 'avocado toast' hipster millennial types to a T...
I don't drink coffee so thanks for enlightening me as to what the equipment is!
@Huw said:
"I don't think there's been a dedicated coffee seller until now"
There's "The Coffee Chain" in 60097: City Square from 2015 (which was spun off from The Lego Movie and 71004-10: Larry the Barista).
Also, the more recent 60233: Donut Shop Opening features "City Coffee", who also sells donuts etc.
Also 40358, Bean There, Donut That. But that also sells donuts.
This promo is also available in-store in the US!
I always prefer to visit my local store vs ordering online when possible, so I always check promo details to see. I figured I'd share in case anybody else in the US finds it helpful!
I didn't realise Friends minidolls had interchangeable hair with minifigs until this article. You live, you learn!
I tried to comment but it isn’t showing up. Is anyone else facing this issue?
Edit: Okay so since my autobiography about my school’s coffee cart business vanished I’ll just sum it up as quickly as I can. I started working for it about a month and a half before they announced this so that was interesting. It’s a cool build even if ours isn’t as big and I’d get it if it weren’t for the fact that there aren’t any sets I’d want that would total up to $60+. I’ll just make duplicates of the one from the latest Hogwarts Express since that’s what ours looks like.
@TheOtherMike said:
""All opinions expressed are my own." Shouldn't that be "all opinions espresso-ed?""
Bravo! I was hoping to get in an espresso pun, but looks like I was too latte...
@TheAuk said:
"Those mini-figs certainly capture the university 'avocado toast' hipster millennial types to a T...
"
Absolutely intentional
This will go good with 31097 : Townhouse Pet Shop & Café , which has a big coffee cup logo on the building, also used white/azure color scheme like the Cart, and also has a red coffee mug above the front door, so can be the same company.
@bigmanjones said:
"I didn't realise Friends minidolls had interchangeable hair with minifigs until this article. You live, you learn!"
You clearly never had a daughter who was allowed to play with both minidolls and minifigs! Cinderella's sporting a brand-new 'do every day!
The sign on the left seems to imply that Lego mugs have hollow handles that somehow fill to the same level as the main mug.
@TheAuk said:
"Those mini-figs certainly capture the university 'avocado toast' hipster millennial types to a T...
"
You're looking for Gen Z, I think. Even the very youngest millennial has been out of university longer than they were in it at this point. We're mostly tired, sad adults now.
I really like this little coffee cart, it has a lot of fun details for something so tiny. It's a pity the sign doesn't fold down over the opening though. Missed a trick with that one
I wish people would stop with the coffee puns. It just makes a mochary of Huw's serious review.
I'm a bit latte saying so but I'm getting tead off with them too. The Americanos seem to be the worst culprits!
The trans-blue cones are supposed to be water bottles, not coffee.
It's neat, but do I need it? That's the question. I was going to wait until some of the GWP for Brick Friday, but I'm not too impressed with the elf and brick built reindeer, so maybe I will go ahead and pick this up with a small order...
Thanks for the review. I don't drink coffee either nor do I have a city set up, so I don't technically need this other than padding my Brickset set count numbers...
$11 - Liquid Carbon
$11 - Salt
@andrzejl:
At my last job, my boss drank the stuff, and he was all happy about some fancy brand of coffee he’d picked up, because they’d finally used up the regular coffee, and he opened the bag...and it was beans. He didn’t have anything to grind them with. Good times...
My coffee/Lego worlds have collided! This looks the most complete coffee setup so far - is this the first time a grinder has appeared in an official set?
Why are they selling coffee in classic LEGO mugs and not in those single-use white cups? Especially since LEGO has a designated piece for it.
@rg9000 said:
"is this the first time a grinder has appeared in an official set?"
Looks like 60097: City Square has one too.
@EvilTwin said:
"Lego city is now part of the cashless society- since Lego currency is only available in coins of 10, 20, 30 and 40 and notes of 100, there's no way to pay for a single coffee which costs 11. I guess that's what the mobile phone is for."
Don’t forget the silver 5 coin and the 5c coin (not that that helps)
@Baldarek said:
"Why are they selling coffee in classic LEGO mugs and not in those single-use white cups? Especially since LEGO has a designated piece for it."
That is a bit odd. Maybe they're having issues with the mold?
I might be mistaken, but I recall that print on the parasol dish being used in Town during the early 90s?
@TeriXeri - I think the colour styling in 31097: Townhouse Pet Shop & Café is more suited to a coffee trader. But the main thing I notice about that set is the Stan Lee cameo!
Man, my LEGO budget has been going down the drain on other things.
Very uninteresting... Skipped this one.
Purple hair is ridiculous and stupid. Otherwise the set is good.
It's a lovely little set, colorful too. I don't have all the curved slopes but I think I'll copy the idea for my little town. And 8 studs is too wide for me, I'll try to cram it into 6 studs max. We'll see...
@Lego_lord said:
"It's a lovely little set, colorful too. I don't have all the curved slopes but I think I'll copy the idea for my little town. And 8 studs is too wide for me, I'll try to cram it into 6 studs max. We'll see..."
Even a 4-wide version would be fun. Someting like a shortened rendition of the cart in 6345.
Nice GWP that gave me a good opportunity to get the Medieval Castle with something to sweeten the deal (it was going to be difficult to find a discount on it as it's a LEGO and Smyths exclusive here I think). I was already planning on getting the blacksmith/barista torso and that purple hairpiece from B&P.
A nice charming set. It brings to mind the variety of themes available in affordable classic Town sets that's sadly missing from the LEGO City range.
Will make a nice Addition to my Fairgrounds display.
I also see salt instead of water, must be the shape. :) I built this last night at 2:15am and I can only say... be more careful than I am when pressing on the back panel. I only found back the second salt shaker just now.