The Lego Racer line never really seems to catch on with the collectors. There were video games, board games and racetrack sets but even with all the marketing, none of the products flew off the shelves. Over the past few months I’ve been trying to complete the boys growing collection of the individual cars and just when it seems that I manage to find them all, a few more of them pop up on the list. Some of the vehicles and figures were previously available in larger sets that included ramps or racetracks, but for the clearance price I couldn’t pass up getting multiples of Red Bullet because of the color and design of the car as well as the ‘cool as heck’ driver.

Red Bullet

When you look at the photo on the box you get the impression that this is going to be a large vehicle but that changes when you build it. The finished product is about two inches long and an inch and a half wide. Even though it is on the small side when compared to the other Lego vehicles, it has that cool pull back motor part that gives you a lot of replay value. The ׄ” on the front of the car is stenciled on so there aren’t any stickers that you have to apply. The number 6 also appears on the back of the vehicle in black along with the two orange aerodynamic fins that help it when it is flying across the floor. The wheels are small and look a lot like racing slicks since there are no treads on them. This runs best on flat surfaces like a table or floor but we’ve also had luck with it on the flat carpeting.

The “pull back motor” is a nice little feature of this set and the best part is that it already comes assembled. When you crack open the box make sure that you look for the base of the vehicle since it isn’t packaged inside the plastic bag with the other elements. To use this feature just put the vehicle on a flat surface, get a good grip on it, pull it backwards and let it go! Depending on how much you pull it back [the maximum is 12 – 14 inches] you can have this puppy go about three feet or more. To keep the vehicle running smoothly, stop pulling it backwards [called priming] when you hear the parts start to click.

If I had to make one single complaint about this set it would be the driver. He has a great helmet and crazy facial expression but – where is his body? The head is the normal yellow peg that comes with almost every Lego figure but it sits atop a clumped body – no movable legs or arms – just this clump of plastic. There is a little detail to it, but not much. I think the designers were banking on the fact that there is a lot of detail to the helmet [movable visor, nice detail] and face so they slacked off on the body.

Instructions

You get a single sheet of instructions with this set, a total of six steps takes you from start to finish and shouldn’t take you more than five minutes to build it as well as the figure. This set is extremely easy to build so for kids that are just getting in to Lego sets or moving up from the Duplo line, this would make a great introduction. Also packaged with the instructions you’ll find an invitation to join the Lego Club as well as a fold out advertisement for other sets that were released in 2002. Be sure to check out the photos on the back and sides of the box for a few design changes that you can make to it.

Things To Know

The individual cars in the series were released over a three year period so the designs on the boxes are different from year to year. The first year, 2001, the boxes were mostly black with and action photo of the car as it is racing. The second year, 2002, the boxes were gray and had the vehicles in action – usually on a racetrack or course. The last part of the series, 2003, feature a new design for the vehicles that sort of strays away from the basic design and incorporates some of the Lego Technic elements in to the design however a few of the 2003 sets do still have the cars made up of 100% standard Lego elements.

You get an additional set of rear tires with this vehicle, they can be used to make the car run better on an uneven surface or to boost up the back end. There aren’t any instructions on how to make the alternative designs but there are photos of them on the reverse side of the instruction sheet as well as on the back of the box. This increases the overall replay value of the vehicle but again, if this is the only set that a child will have, it will get boring after a short period of time.

The Bottom Line

Outside of the small Lego figure body, this is a great small set but I really have to question if it would be worth the suggested retail price of $3.99. I picked the sets up recently at K-Mart and while the boxes were marked with those lovely yellow sale stickers at $2.00, some of them rang up at $1.00 and others at .75 cents. For that price, they are most definitely worth it! All you get with this set is the vehicle and driver [if he can even be called that] so if this is the only set a child will have, look for the fun to end in about a half hour. When added to other Lego Racer sets, you can have hours of fun!

If you are looking for some online Lego Racer action, check out the Drome and see how you stack up against other competitors. Visit this URL, sign up for free and test out your driving capabilities! https://club.lego.com/eng/racers/login.asp. To learn more about Drome or the racers, visit this URL as well www.lego.com/eng/racers. Both sites are official Lego sites so you won’t have to worry about your child being sent to other sites or bombarded with pop ups.


The Stats

Set Name: Red Bullet
Family Set: Lego Racers
Lego Set: 4582
Number of Pieces: 29
Age Recommendation: 6 and older
Ease Of Assembly: Easy
Time Of Assembly: 5 minutes
Cost: $ 1.00 [clearance price]


As always, thanks for the visit …

^V^ Freak ^V^

© 2003 Freak369


Looking for something bigger?

Lego Ice Ramp Racers




Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): $1.00
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family