Branko has taken a look at the twin engined NEOM MCLAREN Formula E… will this twin engined pullback car impress him? Or just startle members of his family?
For me, pullback cars have been a bit of a hidden theme in the LEGO catalogue for nearly 10 years. I’ve always enjoyed the clean simplicity of pullback action but most of the LEGO sets with pullback action have been quite simple and didn’t quite attract my attention. I must admit that this year was no different until I was handed this 42169 NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, containing 452 pieces and retailing for AU$69.99/£46.99/US$49.99/€52.99. For a pullback vehicle this is quite a sizeable set and at a reasonable price too!
The box shows the play features available: pullback action and steering. There is also a reference photo of the source material, the real Formula E car with some stats; 470hp (lots), 320km/h (lots) at 854kg (less than I expected!).
Is this car is able to provide a good classic pullback ‘zoom’ experience or is it perhaps too heavy with so many pieces? Will this electric vehicle (sic) outshine old-fashioned petrol cars, as seems to have become so common, or is this just an over-hyped piece of plastic? What if you just like racing cars; does the pullback effect get in the way of a nice display?
This set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes, all opinions are our own.
the Zoom without Vroom
This car is based on the 2023 model of the race car for the NEOM McLaren team for Formula E; an all electric racing championship. So this car, despite looking fast, will not vroom; it zooms. On the body of the car are a few nice reflective 60s visible, representing the 60th anniversary of McLaren in 2023. On the front spoiler is also a Nissan logo, which confused me, since Nissan has its own competing team in Formula E. As it turns out, Nissan supplies the powertrain to McLaren for Formula E, so although they might not show this logo on the actual vehicle, it appears they wanted to be represented on the LEGO set. Who wouldn’t!
The car looks fast and modern; the orange panels pop very nicely against the black, and the angled lines give a stark futuristic look. The Hand of god (on top of the car) can easily be removed for display if you’d like. A small gripe with the look is the yellow beam that is visible from the top. This is not something you’ll see at most angles but with a pullback car I found myself standing over it quite a bit and it created a desire to replace the part with a black one. The grey pullback motors are also a little distracting; black would have been better but at least the grey is not as distracting as the yellow part (maybe that’s why they put the yellow there!?)
And it zooms! After only a few pullbacks the motors hit the end stop and you can let go to see the car disappear at pretty good clip, with the double motors providing power!
The steering mechanism on the car is a nice touch but a bit confusing for a pullback car. The steering is stiff so the wheels tend to stay in the selected position but it is very finicky to get the car to go straight. I’m not sure how much fun it is to make the car go around the corner intentionally.
I stand corrected; letting the car smash into the door without first warning the missus resulted in a surprisingly funny noise. I get it now, LEGO, you devilish bunch, I get it!
the Pieces
The far majority of the pieces come in paper bags, three of them, with two (2!) pullback motors and a BIG sticker sheet separate, and a plastic bag with the wheels. The sticker sheet is printed on reflective/metallic/pearlescent/shiny material that historically lasts longer that the classic white stickers sheets. We, at the Rambling Brick, will keep you updated in 10-20 years how well these stickers have fared.
The most notable pieces are some of the rare orange panels (80271 & 80272 ) and two black panels (4527 and 5426) that are new this year. The rest of the pieces are quite straightforward. The two pullback motors obviously create a bit of excitement; there have only been two other sets with that kind of power so far!
the Build
It doesn’t take long into bag 1 before it is clear what this set is about; the pullback action. The motors form the central hub that supports the rest of the vehicle. From there the front is extended and gradually built outwards.
When bag 2 arrives we quickly add the front spoiler with the shiny 60 years celebration on it, soon to be followed by the first orange accents.
The final bag finishes off the panels on the car and presents my ultimate LEGO challenge; long narrow stickers on curved panels; as you can see from the photos I, once again, was not able to stick them on exactly in alignment; I hope you will do better.
the Conclusion
All in all, this is a nice set, I would recommend this as a display set even if you are not interested in pullback action. But let’s face it: you are interested in pullback action. After all; we all like to play well. Right….?
I give this set an arbitrary 3.5 praise out of 5 praise units. Pretty good if you’re into cars, Technic or pullback action, but otherwise there are a lot of other nice LEGO sets competing in this price bracket that draw my eyes away.
The set is now available and has 452 pieces. It has a RRP of AUD69.99/ USD49.99/€52.99/ £46.99. If you are interested in purchasing this set, consider using our afilliate links.
This set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes, all opinions are our own.
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Until Next Time,
Play Well!