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.