I’ve been eagerly awaiting this set and, whilst I wanted to be one of those creepy customers with their face pressed to the glass on release day, I didn’t have the financial latitude to justify the £24.99 price tag… That didn’t stop me from eagerly stalking it about the internet, waiting for the right discount to drop… No doubt my poor postman has been scratching his head this week wondering why I have such a manic hopeful grin every time he knocks.

Now I finally have it in my sticky paws.

The Box art is charming, depicting both versions of the build on the back with close-ups of the micromanager, enclosed minifigures, removability of the truck’s roof and the ‘pww-pww’ action shot of the popsicle flick-missiles. My particular interest was in the ice-cream truck setup, although the flying ice-cream resistance number does look fun from the promo photos, especially with those ‘lime’ and ‘blueberry’ ice-cream hoses.

The Minifigures in this set are great.

Ice Cream Mike is a jolly fellow with a big open toothy smile and jaunty hat. Mine, like those in the promo shots, has a blue-tint to the upper half of his apron where the torso shows through the print. If you’re planning on posing him leaning out of the van’s window, the difference between this leg and torso print is going to be a mote point.

Ice Cream Jo, on the other hand, is a little less charismatic with her commonly-seen hair and face. However, with such temptation to fiddle and customise the character, I can see she’ll be frequently handled until I find the right combo.

My Cardio Carrie has the same issue where the black torso has distinctively shown through the yellow print of her skin – I suspect this won’t be the case for everyone though as I’ve previously had the same with just the one of three ‘pirate lady’ torsos and the photo’d Carrie is perfect. Teamed up with the CMF fitness instructor, they make a quirky chalk-and-cheese pair and no one needs to exercise lonely again. The detailing of her headphones and MP3 is lush, plus some beads of sweat on her face from her work-out, it’s this attention to detail throughout that really makes the set.

The Micromanager is rather fun, the ‘quick fire’ flick missiles was rather entertaining and I can see the younger end of the age bracket enjoying the feature (although, as per, very swiftly losing the ammo!). Great for whooshing in the air, from a display point of view I dislike the fact it sits on its arms. With a few of them though, corralled up alongside 70809 Lord Business’ Evil Lair, the contrasting forms negates the issue (just) for me.

The Build on this is without a doubt excellent. I confess, I’ve not yet constructed the flying version, but the truck itself has a lot going for it. There are also a lot of spare parts, to cater to the two versions, so my brick bucket is a happy camper.

Solidly built and cheerfully coloured, the large serving window with ledge is on both sides, with plenty of room within the cab itself to have BOTH Mike and Jo serving back to back (less queues for the minifigure population, so they’ll be happy!). Plus, of course, ample room to pop in a driver at the wheel - perfect – with enough arm clearance that they can indulge in the odd cheeky ice-cream too.

With the orange and white ice-creams decorative up on the roof (along with some very cute green speakers and that eye-grabbing giant ice-cream), the blue and the lime-green ice-cream cones are waiting to be served along with two transparent lime popsicles. Inside the truck is a top-opening freezer to house said popsicles at the driver’s end with two ice-cream dispensers for the (blueberry?) and (lime?) ice-cream towards the rear. In front of this, the 1x2 plate with single knob (*4500069*) means a cone can be put down securely in an authentic ‘stand’ - they won’t require an extra hand/juggling skills when serving a family of three now!

However, the placement of these does make the rear window (*6010737* trans) feel a little superfluous, showcasing the unused holes in the dispensers (*4194010* white). My other real bugbear is that the rear of the vehicle, aside from this window, doesn’t look quite right. There isn’t a rear number plate, but perhaps this is intentional so the various Lego police can pull it over? There is also a bizarre gap at the top. I had to double-check the instructions, as I couldn’t believe that could be legit. On the one hand, this allows for easy removal of the roof to get play access to the interior. On the other, it looks odd and showcases the bricks with cross holes (*4233486*) used in the roof… This is easily fixed, I need to get two 1x4 white plates, but it’s a frustrating flaw.

In addition to those two plates, it would have been lovely to have had an extra ice-cream cone in either ‘chocolate’ or ‘strawberry’ (strawberry is featured on the flavour menu) or even a popsicle of another colour. This is easy to add yourself, especially for anyone who stockpiled those adorable yetis, but this little extra would have tipped this charming set into my top ten.

Over-all, I’m rather smitten with the ice-cream truck build. It works perfectly with the Fairground Mixer and fits nicely alongside 60057 Campervan. I tend to find when I highly-anticipate a set, it won’t live up to those impossible expectations (79001 Escape from Mirkwood Spiders, for example, had looked like a ‘cool’ little set and then fell utterly flat). This one, with such a roomy interior and double-sided serving space, definitely surpassed my (obscenely high) expectations.

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However, I do have a massive problem with the set, which it only seems fair to comment on. My set has some serious quality control issues – and I don’t mean the torso printing, which is neither here nor there ultimately – but the state of the bricks.

Two of my white bricks have foreign bodies, black specs visible just below the surface of the plastic, one of which looks alarmingly beetle-like. ‘Bug' brick is a 1x4 *part 301001*, so I've been able to turn it invisibly inwards on the roof, however the smaller spec is on the 2x4 flat plate *part 4560178* and so permanently visible at the top of the truck. Probably this is just dirt that got caught up in the production process but... Gross.

In addition to this, about 80% of the bricks (mostly white and pink - the green and non-SNOT greys are all pristine) are damaged, either with dents along the edges (akin to the chew-like marks you see on old well-loved bricks), scratches on the sides, tiny chips rounding off the corners, or a combination of. Cardio Carrie's torso at the bottom also has a bubbled-dent at the front which, since it catches the light, is very noticeable.

I haven’t the time to individually go through every single brick to establish the good and bad, the thought of clicking away to get that number of replacements is far too disheartening. Still, the fact the entire set had this problem was quite alarming. I have several hundred Lego sets in my collection; this poor clone-brand-esque quality was a completely alien experience. I’d love to know what on earth happened here – perhaps someone has used this particular box as a replacement ball in keepy-uppy?

I’ve notified customer services, it only seems fair to advise them of the issue, and certainly will request replacements for the foreign body pieces… But still, icky icky eek.

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Regardless, this definitely sits in my Top 15. It's bright and, even with that funky-looking rear, rather beautiful. I’m trying to pretend that, being so popular with the ‘we scream for ice-cream’ minifigures, it’s a wee bit beat up (and as someone who loves her ice-cream, that would be ALL the minifigures). This is going to be a perfect edition to any city set up, and I’m surprised we haven’t seen more like this. What summer scene could be complete without children running to the corner for a ‘99’?

...Plus, who doesn't love the humour of the pastel Octan label? They DO make everything, after all!

I thought this set would be a great addition to my city. Where else would you get a set with a full-sized ice cream truck? Please note I am reviewing this from the second model (ice cream truck) perspective.

Box/Instructions

The box measures 36.3cm x 19.1cm x 6.7cm. This makes it a fairly average size. The box, just like the other Lego Movie sets, has a varnished finish. The front of the box shows the first model, the ice cream gunner in the foreground with a roll of film in the back. A smaller picture in the bottom left-hand corner shows the second model. The back features pictures of both models, along with smaller pictures of the Micro Manager, the removable roof on model two, the minifigures, the shooting ability on the first model, and an ad for the movie videogame.

The set has three instruction booklets, none of which have mistakes. Book one builds the minifigures and the Micro Manager, book two builds the gunner, and the unnumbered book builds the truck. One issue I had was that I was unsure if I could build the Micro Manager with model two, which I can. I would have liked the Micro Manager book be numbered one, with model one being book A, and model two being book B. The interior of the booklets are identical to the present City layout.

Parts

Although many of the parts are common, some are rarer, like 4655282, the cone top; 4124113, "R2D2 Legs"; 6063702, the servery hat, and 6056386, the vehicle back, among others. As well, many of the parts come in colours they typically don't, like the tan drill (6058126), the green ice cream (6061678), the blue ice cream (4640866), the orange ice cream (4286789), and the coloured tubing (6044690 and 6059315).

The colour scheme is mainly white, bright pink, and lime green. Other colours include bright green, bright blue, pale pink, and bright orange-yellow. there is one colour I have never seen before; pale green, in part 6056416.

Minifigures

This set includes three minifigures; Ice Cream Mike, Ice Cream Jo and Cardio Carrie.

Ice Cream Mike uses parts 6058094, 6063702, 6057689, and 6057818. The legs are exclusive to this set; they are also used on Jo. It has printing on the front, a white and pink striped pattern. His hat is very uncommon; I believe you get one in the butcher minifigure from the Collectable series. His torso is blue with a pink and white striped apron with an ice cream cone symbol printed on. It also has a nametag with "MIKE' written on. The back has a tied cord printed on. His head is unique, with an awkward smile and ginger sideburns.

Jo uses parts 6058094, 4618522, 6064355, and 4651443. The legs are identical to Mike's. The torso is blue with the top of the apron, an ice cream cone symbol with a nametag stating 'JO' printed on. The back has a tied cord. The face is a standard common female face with lipstick. The hair is common, but in a pale auburn colour.

Cardio Carrie uses parts 6058096, 4527065, 6057690 and 6057821. The legs are black with printed spandex. The hairpiece is the common dark brown piece with long ponytail. The torso has a printed waistband, iBrick and headphones printed, as well as the low cut shirt. The face is double sided. The front is a common female face with lipstick with a calm expression, with an added headband and drop of sweat. The back is identical, but with a frightened expression.

The build

The Micro Manager is easy to build; it mainly involves building a structure and covering it with plates.

The ice cream truck uses a large chassis but builds up with blocks and plates. It is quite simple, with a few submodels. They are:

• The popsicle freezer;
• The ice cream drums;
• The back ledges;
• The roof;
• and the large ice cream cone on the roof.

There were no odd techniques, but this set features SNOT. One interesting use of pieces was in step 25 with parts 6056399 and 6056394; two of each.

I would like to point out it is not built like most City trucks.

The completed model

The Micro Manager looks nice, however, studs are visible. The magazine is rapidfire; when one is release, the magazine drops for the next missile. However, by the third missile, the magazine is out the bottom, making the model tilted. I would have liked the magazine to be little more secure.

The truck is pure genius. The outside has a ledge for serving, and a menu on the glass. There are many stickers on the model. Artificial cones are on the four corners. The roof has speakers and a large cone on the top with lights. It is visually pleasing, however, it makes the model top-heavy.The roof is removable, as illustrated on the box. The cab has seating for one, while the back has a large 3x4 stud area. There is also a popsicle freezer. In the back are the drums, visible from the outside.

The first model looks interesting, however, I have not built it.

Summary

The model is beautifully executed. This isn't just for the Lego Movie fan; it is good in a Lego City or minifigure scale Creator. Heck, even the Star Wars fan will like it, as the cone bears a resemblance to R2D2.

Any Lego fan should get this set, as it is one of the best sets I have seen for a while.

Set #70804 Ice Cream Machine: LEGO 2-1 builds are not my normal foray, indeed I rarely find myself actually going after the multiple build sets mostly because it's often difficult to settle on one definitive model to put on display. However The LEGO Movie has introduced me to a wonderful fun new building style, so let's discuss the fun that is the Ice Cream Machine.

Box/Instructions

The box is the same as any other LEGO movie box, with an excellent eye catching design, showcasing the set in all it's glory. Indeed the action and dynamic look of the sets from this Theme look almost as if they will jump out of the box into your hands. It also shows off both models brilliantly in a sort of, step one, step two kind of progression image on the back.

Overall a great looking box.

As for the instructions, you're getting three distinct manuals in this set. The first two are numbered and show the step by step build for building the flying variant of the model. Book one is very thin with a small number of pages, you build the minifigures and micromanger while book 2 actually builds the flying vehicle.

Book number 3 (which is not numbered) builds the secondary model of the main build. I enjoyed the look and design of all three manuals, though I do find breaking up the minifigures and micromanager into a smaller thinner manual is kind of a pointless waste of paper. Especially when this set does not include numbered bags.

Parts

Loads of great parts in this set, mostly the unique colours such as the pinks and lime green/neon blue parts. You also get a load of ice cream cone pieces in this set, some popsicles and some great transparent tubes. The large drill piece in ice cream cone tan colour is a nifty part as well. I believe you'll find a lot of uses for this set outside of the main models you can build out of it.

Minifigures

The two-in-one builds have three minifigures and one micromanager each, all of them include unique characters from the film and these Minifigs look great. As I've done before however let's discuss the Micromanager first.

This Micromanager is one of the small builds, designed with a flying look in mind it has two small mechanical arms (useless for gripping minifigs) and a flick fire missile launching gimmick that works really fun. When you launch one missile the launcher mechanism drops down and when all three have been launched you can reset it. It's a cute little build and a fun enemy for battling against the Ice Cream Machine.

Ice Cream Mike is the owner of the vehicle I believe. He's dressed in a rich blue looking top with pink and white striped apron and includes leg, double-sided torso and a happy looking facial print with huge side burns. He's wearing the butcher's hat introduced with the CMF line and the level of detail here is up to the standards I've come to expect from this Theme.

Ice Cream Jo has an identical print and thematic design to her look as her boss. (Or possibly husband.) The big difference with her, aside from the female torso design, is that her apron is only printed on her legs and around her waist. Which makes sense as instead of serving the ice cream she's made out to be the driver and probably wouldn't drip the ice cream onto her top like Mike does. Like Mike she has a nametag with her name on it.

Cardio Carrie is an awesome looking Minifig dressed in a jogging outfit/unitard with purple leggings and either an Ipod or pulse monitor printed on her torso attached to her belt. She's the only minifig with a double-sided facial print, one side normal for everyday things the other terrified as she's about to be kragled once the micromanager catches her. She also has a hairpiece first introduced with the CMF series 1 Cheerleader, an awesome use of this piece here.

Overall this set has some great Minifigures and two out of three of them are female, a rare sight indeed in such a well priced set. Sadly there aren't too many accessories besides the ice cream and popsicles, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Now to move on to the build.

The build

First Build: Ice Cream Machine, this build is pretty impressive and fun to build, I like the use of the parts here as it uses almost every part in the build. There is no wasted space during the build and although you are going to find yourself useing a lot of stickers instead of printed elements for the build, it's still well worth the endeavor once you finish it.

Second Build: Ice Cream Van, this build has several steps that may seem similar to the flying vehicle build, however there are noticeable differences. A lot more parts are left over and this will be somewhat unfortunate as we discuss in the finished model section. I like this build though, I think it's almost on par with the LEGO City builds of trucks and other similar styled vehicles. I've plum forgotten the term we AFOLS coined for them.

Both builds are equal parts fun, equal parts repetitive and equal parts awesome. It's hard to decide which one should be permanently on display. I suppose it's up to personal preference, now to discuss the complete models.

The completed model

The completed Ice Cream Machine Model uses most of the pieces found in the set, only a few spares are left out of the build however these pieces can easily be placed elsewhere. Mostly on the back as the command section for the ice cream cannons and popsicle firing missiles is a cockpit area for one of the Mini-Figures that features an open back. The spare pieces from the set can easily be MOCed into a sort of short stubby tailfin for the flying ice cream vendor cart for easy storage and removal when you want to play with the model and remove the Mini-Figure in charge of the weapons.

The best part of the finished primary model is the colour combinations, the white, pink and light green pieces make for an interesting combination. Many stickers are used for detailing of the vehicle in both forms, and none of the stickers are left off of the vehicle in either build. Overall the Ice Cream Machine build is pretty satisfying and very faithful to the on-screen version. Being able to add the un-used pieces as a sort of tailfin allows for easy storage of the miscellaneous pieces not in use for this build and the design of the vehicle is just all around fun.

In contrast the van model uses less parts, leaves out a lot of pieces once finished which I find rather unfortunate. I know some of the parts left off would be difficult to accommodate, however I think the design is a bit lazier not using all the pieces as effectively as the more creative build. Also this model, as others have pointed out before me, is a tad on the tall side. The vendor window is higher than a Minifigs head which hinders the asthetics of the design.

I do love the fact that this is the first ice cream van build that LEGO has given us and it isn't a Friends set, which would cause no end of complaints from some areas of the community, still I do wish that it's scale were better and that the pieces used in the build could be stored somewhere. Some of the unused parts can be stored in the hollows of the roof, but not all.

Overall opinion

Overall I find this set to be well worth the asking price, owning it means you can enjoy either model fairly well actually, and it makes a good base for some MOC builds of a similar vehicle. There are a few issues with it, minor complaints on the scale and use of stickers for every detail (why not at least print the license plate on the tile? It's been done before after all.) I would still highly recommend this set to everyone though, not only because of the creative fun you can have with it, but because it features more female than male minifigures, which is a plus in my books no matter the set.

If LEGO were to make a companion parlor to this set with the Octan logo and more uniformed employees next year I'd really enjoy that, chances are though we'll see one in the Friends Theme before we get a legitimate Ice Cream Parlor.