No Mixed Feelings
Parts
Good parts, but I especially was interested in the large piece that makes up the back of the cab. It's always good to have more vehicle parts.
Minifigures
Just simple city workers, not that exciting.
The build
The build was fun and had some good building techniques. It used a lot of clip joints.
The completed model
This is an awesome set. I could see a smaller kid getting hours of play with it. The cement barrel is slightly unstable, however this doesn't hinder the great playability. The barrel turns, the cement gate lifts, the cab lifts, and the chute can rotate! Overall great set and I would definitely recommend it.
3 out of 4 people thought this review was helpful.
Long, hard, and full of cement.
We who buy LEGO are seriously spoiled for choice, and a large part of that reason, for better or for worse, is due to the buffet of licensed themes and sets that we have to choose from year after year. It's easy to forget, however, that LEGO's bread-and-butter is still the tried-and-true and everlasting City theme, and to carry the food analogy slightly further, I think it always works as a palate cleanser to go back every once in a while and look at a set completely divorced from the trappings of Hollywood glitz and glamour. One of my recent choices in this regard was the Cement Mixer.
Huw was able to make a comparison with 7990 from 2007, a set that I had wanted to own but was never able to find for cheap since it went off the shelves just prior to me coming out of my "dark ages". A new iteration of the classic cement mixer was therefore something that I found myself getting quite excited about, and for US$20 it was too hard to pass up when it was released.
This set unfortunately suffers from a slightly lower piececount owning to the necessity of including the two halves of the mixing cylinder that serve as the visual and mechanical centrepiece of the model. Two Minifigs is also standard for a vehicle set, and you get a foreman and someone for the foreman to boss around. A wheelbarrow, a shovel, and a plethora of dark grey "cement" pieces make this set highly playable for kids and grownups alike, which makes this a really fun little model on its own.
Don't be fooled: this model packs in a lot of intricate detail and some nifty - perhaps even unexpected - features. The primary one is a little rotating mechanism that controls the cement drum, and the highly specialised drum parts are designed such that the "cement" pieces are caught in a spiral and pushed out, where they can be guided via a chute into the wheelbarrow waiting below. The front cabin also tilts forward to allow the drum a bit of maneuverability, which is a cool feature but I'm not entirely sure that this is true of actual cement mixer trucks, but perhaps that's beside the point. There's even some little "greebling" at the side in the form of a control panel. You'll find, though, that this attention to detail is sprinkled throughout a very interesting construction, so you're guaranteed to love this model from start to finish.
If I had to dock points for anything at all, it would be the use of stickers on the cement drum. The usual ones that give the license plate and other vehicular details are pretty inoffensive, but there is no way that I would ever attempt to place the large ones and expect to be satisfied with the end result. Frankly, the model looks fantastic without the stickers, and my advice would be to leave them off, or else risk messing up the entire set, which would be a huge bummer.
City vehicles just seem to get better and better each year, and our cement mixer definitely achieves the high bar that LEGO has set for it. It's affordable, looks and works great, and is tons of fun. In fact, if you're a complete neophyte or someone considering coming out of your "dark ages", I would probably say that this is the set to go for.
6 out of 6 people thought this review was helpful.
Very Good for a new Great Vehicles set.
The Lego City Cement Mixer #60018. I got this set fro my birthday along with the Tanker Truck #60016 and the Loader and Tipper#4201. It's a very playable set and fits every aspect.
1. Minifigures: The set comes with two mininfigs. First, we have the driver who wears a black cap, the overalls torso, and orange pants. He's very well suited for a driver. And we have the worker who wears a red construction hat, the orange construction torso, and sand yellow pants. I like how they put the miner's head in the minifig. It looks great. Overall, both minifigs are well suited for this set.
2. Accessories: The accessories in this set are a wheelbarrow, a red mug, a shovel, and I guess you can count the grey studs as accessories too. I love the new wheelbarrow pieces, but they're annoying to build. Almost every vehicle in Lego City comes with cups now. Don't really care, but it's Lego. The studs a good attachment, as long as you don't lose them. Overall, the accessories are alright. It depends how you like them.
3. The Vehicle: The cement mixer itself is actually a very good looking vehicle. It's yellow, has a grey mixer, four wheels,and a playability feature. I'd actually prefer this over the older cement mixer form 2007. I like the design and that you can move the front and mixer up. But the feature I like most is the fact that you can mix the mixer with a turn-able piece. And the studs can come out of the mixer once you move it. The truck is a very awesome itself all the way.
4. Final Thoughts: I would obviously recommend you buy this set Great minifigs, accessories, and a very awesome truck. The price ($20 for a 221 piece set) is well suited. Unlike $20 for the 4x4 & Diving Boat or $7 for the little sets like the Fire Motorcycle, Police ATV, and/or Surfer Rescue. But anyway this set is great, not my favorite Great Vehicle set, but worth buying.1 out of 1 person thought this review was helpful.
A word from a leftie....
Again, some great detailed reviews so I won't repeat anything said :)
However, as a left-handed AFOL'er I did find the mechanism being 'on the wrong side' a little unweldy to use. For any other left-handers simply reverse the positions of the cogs, turning knob and exhaust and there you have it.
Its a great improvement on the last iteration and the colour choice is lovely - makes a nice contrast side-by-side to the tipper truck from 2012.
1 out of 4 people thought this review was helpful.
Cements a spot as a city classic......
Shortly after purchasing (and reviewing) set number 60017 (flatbed truck), i decided to buy this set as well. LEGO's fantastic truck range of 2013 continues with this outstanding and attractive set. It is a great truck for children and adults alike. It works well and opens up many ways to allow easy use.
Pros
- Works well
- Very detailed
- Two minifigs
- Wheelbarrow
- Plenty of cement pieces
- Great pieces such as mug, spade
- Fairly large truck for price
Cons
- Too many stickers (some may cause frustration)
- Nowhere to clip spade
Overall, a great set and another must buy for your LEGO city to expand traffic and construction areas in your city.
6 out of 6 people thought this review was helpful.