Set Review ➟ 71458 LEGO® Dreamzzz™ Crocodile Car
The surreal finally gets its due with the LEGO Dreamzzz line.
In a throwback to at least the 1980s…or taking a page from the more recent Creator 3-in-1 sets…kits in the Dreamzzz line offer a specific alternate build. The wrinkle with the Dreamzzz sets is that the alternate build is not a complete disassembly of the kit to create an entirely different model. With Dreamzzz a portion of the current build has an A or B option.
Overview
Interesting choice by LEGO to have the instructions for the Dreamzzz sets use cartoon illustrations on their covers. Yup. Not a regurgitation of the box image, not a photo or render or retouched render or otherwise the heretofore “usual” cover art, but something original and unique. Fun. Bravo. Works for the theme.
There are a handful of stickers in the set along with a few printed pieces to add some decoration to the crocodile car.
This kit has three main elements: the car, a “motorcycle”, and a “minicycle”. The cycles are built from the contents of parts bag 1 of 5. The car is built from the contents of parts bags 2 and 3. The crocodile add-on option modification parts are in bags 4 and 5. Once you get to the end of bag 3, you have a completed car with wheels. At this point in the instructions you get the choose-your-own-adventure option of continuing the build with option A or option B.
The A option removes the wheels from the car and adds legs, tail, and crocodile head to the body of the vehicle. The B option leaves the wheels attached and adds what is essentially a plow blade (adorned with teeth) to the front, some elaborate rear-wheel tire covers, and a bunch of tack-on bits which monster up the basic car. Parts not used on the car are used to create a separate little speed boat.
Figures
The set has three regular minifigures and two smaller figures which use a single new body part LEGO calls “creature body”. The red figure is Cooper, the black figure is Night Hunter, the purple figure is Jayden, the blue creature is Logan and the black creature is Snivel. The creatures stand up surprisingly well for single-stud characters who carry their weapons in their armpits.
The red Cooper figure has a helmet which can be swapped for a wig. The Jayden figure, I’m guessing that is some sort of dental appliance there on her (his? its? their?) face and not peculiar whiskers. Minifigure torsos are printed front and back, Cooper and Hunter have printed legs, Snivel has a one-sided printed body, and Cooper, Jayden, and Logan have dual printed heads.
In what is often typical of minifigures bearing egregiously large weapons, the Night Hunter here has a side-barbed-futuristic-harpoon-pistol-complete-with-evil-eyed-telescope-sight that is about five-sixths his height and one quarter his weight. The harpoon does not fire from the pistol, which makes one wonder about the necessity of such a large sight being attached to it. Magically he can hold it steady at arm’s length with a single arm…undoubtedly it has something to do with nightmare-fueled strength…but he has difficulty actually standing because, well, physics. This is no doubt an impediment to his running and having to manually jab the harpoon into whomever or whatever it is that he wants to harpoon.
Mwouhahaha…
…uhh oh!
Cycles
Night Hunter’s brick-built cycle has stud shooters on either side because small parts need to be lost and children’s eyes need to be put out. The little cycle is little and cute and has pink flames. Flames are pink in dreamzzz world because lithium chloride is the preferred nightmare fuel. Little known fact.
Night Hunter Bike
Night Hunter Bike
Snivel Bike
Snivel Bike
The Car, Off-Road Mode
This, of course begs the question of what on-road mode looks like. I suspect it looks exactly like off-road mode. Unfortunately. LEGO either missed or passed on an opportunity here in that it chose to use a wheel with an axle hole instead of a wheel with a pin hole. Had a wheel with a pin hole been selected, there would be multiple attachment point options for the wheels which could have provided for on-road mode, parking-lot mode, lowrider mode, and so on with moving wheels. Alas, the axle connector allows for different positioning of the wheels, but the wheels aren’t able to turn. Good news is that customizing the wheel setup so the wheels can turn will require only a few common pieces from your parts stash.
Off Road Mode
On Road Mode
Lowrider Mode
Disc Shooter
The car has a disc shooter in the grille operated by a lever behind the cockpit. The roof lifts off the cockpit easily and the driver, if inserted, has a comfortable fit.
Crocodile Car Mode
Yeah. It’s pretty much everything you’d expect from a blue and yellow crocodile fused to a red car. The crocodile mouth opens and closes. The arms and legs, while minimally articulated, do allow for various positioning. The tail swishes smoothly. Delightful. One note: the final big flat piece used for the crocodile tail end is in bag 5 but instructions imply it is in bag 4.
Hippo Car Mode
I’m calling this Hippo Car because it sounds nicer than Really Disappointing Car, which it is, compared to Crocodile Car. The set artwork makes it look like a hippo. Sort of. Hipposaurus. But the actual build doesn’t really resemble the cartoon very much if at all. It is kind of a shame because the cartoon version looks more interesting than the actual build. Hippo car shows up for the game, but sits on the bench.
Actual build doesn’t much look like this, does it?
Once you get past the definitely non-hippo-like plow blade with attached teeth supposedly resembling a mouth, then it just looks like whatever extra pieces were just glommed onto the car wherever they would fit, just to use the bricks and claim a second build. I totally don’t get the wings coming off the hind quarters if this is a hippo.
While the mouth articulates, if you pivot either top or bottom jaw too far past center teeth will get knocked off, so some discretion is warranted. Also make sure the mouth is wide open if you want to use the disc shooter.
I really did not like Hippo Car…but luckily this is LEGO…so I spent fifteen minutes and turned it into Bug Car. Everybody is hereby challenged to make something better than Hippo Car. The bar isn’t high.
The Boat
The boat doesn’t quite make up for Really Disappoi…er…Hippo Car, but it’s fun. If you want creature Logan to carry his hockey stick in the boat, though…there’s only one position…and barely…where that works. The dark blue cheese wedges are an obstacle. You can add a second azure tile atop the one that’s there (there is a leftover in Hippo Car mode) then the hockey stick clears the wedges.
Arrgh.
Add a center-studded tile, all’s good.
The Randolph T. Fielding Absolutely Administrivia Section
In what has to be a masterstroke of unintentional obfuscation, the part number for the little figure bodies is located on the underside of the head stem. The LEGO logo and mold number are equally small and located on the recessed bar limiters. I swear the size of these labelling elements is fast approaching Blade Runner size where a dystopian future microscope will be needed to see the serial number etched on a cell wall.
Part number 1993.
Yep. Way up in the neck is the number.
The logo and mold cavity number are only halfway up in there.
The set uses part 64920, similar to the older 32069. 64920 has larger pin holes with shorter slots than 32069.
Newer 64920 left; older 32069 right.
Pin holes in 64920 are larger than in 32069, but still not big enough to accommodate a bar.
The teeth barbs have the logo on the bar end.
Summary
The brick-built bikes are okay builds and are pretty much in line with the hundred or so other brick built bikes LEGO has released over the last few years. Crocodile Car is pretty awesome and really the reason to purchase this set. Unlike some of the Creator 3-in-1 sets…for example the 3-in1 ferris wheel where one might be tempted to buy a second or third set to have the trifecta of ferris wheel, swingset, and bumper cars…purchasing a second set here to have simultaneous crocodile car and hippo car is unlikely high on the list as hippo car is pretty disappointing.
The Night Hunter figure is pretty spectacular, the other two are meh, and the two creatures, while interesting, are probably going to be one-and-done like the rock monsters from the Power Miners theme. Get them now while you can, kids.
Disclaimer
Thanks to LEGO for providing the set. As usual the thoughts in the review are not influenced by the corporate benefactors.
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