Explore Together: Racing Tiger - Move Over Tony, There's A New Tiger In Town!
Written: Dec 07 '02
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Pros: Sturdy, inexpensive, no building required, adorable!
Cons: Only three pieces in the set, not in most retail stores yet.
The Bottom Line: The Explore Together series provides a great deal of entertainment for the younger crowd and the low price makes it easy to collect all the sets.
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| Freak369's Full Review: LEGO Systems LEGO - Explore Together: Racing Tiger... |
The ever-growing world of Lego never ceases to amaze me. My children are all Lego addicts, my neighbor Jane started buying the sets for her kids and my nephew has cultivated a real taste for them as well. The new Explore Together line is designed for children about 16 months to 3 years of age. These sets work well with the Duplo sized bricks and elements and can easily and inexpensively kick start your childs collection of blocks. While these sets are extremely small [only three pieces per pack] with a little bit of imagination the boundaries of imaginative play are literally endless.
My nephew has really started to get into building things with the Duplo bricks and is having a great time making his own creations. I am the one that spoils the kid rotten, even if I have to do it via the postal service. I ordered a lot of Duplo sets from the Lego website since trying to find these [and others in the Explore series] is almost impossible. It would have cost me an arm and a leg to have them shipped from the Lego site to his home in the U.K. so as usual I had them sent to my house so I could repackage them, remove excess material and have everything as compact as possible. This of course affords the brood and I the chance to give the sets the once over and take them for a test drive [no pun]. The bad thing is that the boys really liked these and asked for a few sets for themselves to add to their Racers set up.
Driver
The driver of the racecar is a rather cute little fellow – dressed in a blue suit with yellow slip over helmet – he is ready to hit the track and bring home the gold! The figure is a rather unique being and reminds me a lot of the Bob The Builder style figures except for the difference in helmets. The hands have an open grip, which allows the figure to grasp items however there are no accessories provided in this set for him to use, hold on to or work with. The small stenciled design on his chest really gives him a nice look and the stenciling on the helmet is a very nice perk. I played around with the helmet a little and after a few tries I did manage to get his hand around the inside portion so he could hold on to it.
Racer
The bright yellow racer is just adorable! The four black racing slicks [tires] provide a great accent to the vehicle and really enhance the racecar image. The stenciling on the front part of the vehicle is that of a tiger – hence the name of the set. The vehicle comes completely assembled so you won’t have to worry about a younger child having to put anything together. The driver sits nicely in the seat and is easily placed and removed. As a whole, the racecar is easy to maneuver and move around. Smaller hands will love the way they can grip the vehicle and easily remove and replace the driver. Some of the racecars in the Lego family aren’t exactly kid friendly but I have to say – if you have a child that has taken a liking to using Duplo bricks – these little cars will more than likely be a huge hit with them.
Trophy
The red trophy brick is a chunky style tall 1x2 Duplo element. If you have other Duplo sets you can make a small platform for this or build a nice stand for both the racecar and trophy. The image of the trophy is gold metallic with the number ֿ” on the cup. When you combine this set with the others in this mini series you can create your own raceway because the Racing Leopard comes with a stenciled flag brick and the Racing Lion with a danger / warning cone. To preserve the image on the block use a non-toxic sealer on it to prevent chipping and scratching. Please, remember non-toxic sealers only since chances are someone will want to give it a taste test.
Things To Know
The stenciled images on the helmet and vehicle might get a little beat up if you have a child that is rough on toys. My suggestion is to coat it with a sealer that is non-toxic – not my usual clear nail polish trick. The reason for this is that there is still a chance that – under extreme use and abuse – the clear nail polish could flake off. Using a non-toxic sealer that is available at most craft stores, you can preserve the image and protect it from getting scratched up.
I ordered these through the Lego website and haven’t seem them at stores yet. While they might be a little more expensive, I would expect that Toys R Us would have these before Target and Wal-Mart. If these look like something that you might be interested in picking up, there is still time to order them from the Lego website and receive them before Christmas. The Lego website price is $2.99 and judging from past purchases – the Toys R Us price will probably be $3.99. Since these are rather inexpensive they make great stocking stuffers for the little Lego maniacs.
If you have any of the vehicles from the Lego Racers line, these will work well with the vehicles and figures however there are differences between the sizes and images. If you have children that are different ages this is a great way to allow them to play together without having to worry that the younger kids will feel left out. The vehicles from the Explore Together series are a perfect match for the raceways in the Racers series and will work on almost all the tracks from that series.
The Bottom Line
Even though I purchased these for my nephew that doesn’t mean that I didn’t have a great time testing them out. I was really impressed with the racers stability and strength. The vehicle is made from a hard plastic that will hold up to even the toughest use and abuse. My nephew was head over heels in love with the Bob The Builder sets that I sent him and I am sure that these will be a huge hit as well. As I said, these are on the inexpensive side and would make for a great small reward for a well done job, an incentive for potty training, stocking stuffer or if you purchase all three of them – a very entertaining birthday present. Since these are geared for the younger crowd I was really surprised that my boys asked for these since they generally shy away from anything “kid” related. Looks like it’s back to the Lego website for me …. Yeah, like you’ll ever hear me complain about that!
The Stats
Set Name: Racing Tiger
Family Set: Explore Together
Lego Set: 1404
Number of Pieces: 3
Age Recommendation: 1 1/2 and older
Ease Of Assembly: None, everything is pre-built
Time Of Assembly: None
Cost: $2.99
As always, thanks for the read!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2002 Freak369
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $2.99
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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