McLaren P1

So, me and the new fiancé took a day trip to Cambridge for a bit of R&R and some shopping. She picked things up for the house, our daughter and the upcoming baby, I picked out this!

From the new Lego Racers range, the McLaren P1. The two Ferraris were in the shop also, but I preferred the McLaren. Mostly because it was yellow!!

Now for £13 I thought it was a pretty good price. Any more than £15 and I'd have been put off a bit, even if it is a special range. What I like about the box is that it has a picture of the actual car and some vital stats on too.

What first struck me upon opening the box was that there were two instruction books. I think that they could have done it in one really. The other thing was the amount of stickers. Now I understand that some would be required because some of the shapes aren't doable in Lego. Plus to print every brick would probably add production cost.

However a couple of the stickers I feel they could have printed, one the exhaust, as that is a prominent visual piece and even a slightly jaunty sticker could ruin the look of the car. The second was the dashboard. A sticker placed on a 2x1 wedge. Again, too easy to get wrong. 

I'm not opposed to unique bricks for a set, especially one such as this where the look and shape of the car is paramount in recreating a real life vehicle in Lego. But there were a few custom pieces I've not seen before and cannot see appearing in any 'normal' set. Is this a slight laziness on the designers part? Or were they trying to not only capture the look of the vehicle, but make it playable too?

One of the downsides of the DeLorean from Back to the Future is that because of its construction it is not very playable as it is quite fragile. Custom bricks would have improved stability sure, but it would then be hard to describe it as 'normal' Lego.

I fear it is one of those battles Lego will never be able to win and please everyone.

Now this does sound quite a negative review, but there are so many good things to this. One, again is the price. For a real world car I gladly paid that amount. The detail is astonishing, especially with the small scale of the model. Oversizing it would have made it easier on the designers, but not right to play with with a minifigure.

Lego supply two sets of 'alloys' 10 spoke and 5 spoke depending on your preference. The model is VERY well constructed and easily playable.

On the whole I'm quite happy with this purchase and it has now shown me the range is good enough to warrant buying some more. Just have to convince the missus I need them!!