Reviewed by Wikus Dreyer
(SAFOLs Member, zaLUG Member, Admin of Facebook page: LEGO Enthusiasts South Africa)
Most people who know me can confess that I am after some rare and specific finds, and trying to add some story behind each of my sets, does make it more special for myself. Let’s talk motion and I am there, so in my collection one will find some of most of the recent motion sets within my limits.
This time around after watching many reviews and waiting for the launch, I couldn’t hold back to use my VIP card at the online LEGO® shop and order the Creator Expert Roller Coaster (10261) on 16 May this year. I had a friend that visited the UK who volunteered to bring it back for me. Needless to say, this set also had a story of getting here with my friend almost missing his flight, as the delivery took place 3 hours before the boarding gates closed on Heathrow for his flight back. I got the set without the box, as this large piece didn’t fit the travel bag and for some other obvious reasons, didn’t come over as hand luggage. The packs where numbered from bag 1 to 11, which in itself make it one of the larger sets that LEGO® have released with a piece count of 4123 pieces.
When I started off, the back of my mind had some of the info of other reviews, that this set is not very stable and doesn’t like to be moved. First challenge accepted and I started to build on a platform that I can easily move. To my surprise after the first bag, I wondered where this comment came from. The build is split into two halves that in the end link up and can be split up easily again. Building up the levels for the one side was really steady where the designers did think it through to ensure support in the pillars with some different lengths of axis. With these large sets one do tend to get a lot of repetition, but on the other hand, if some techniques work, why would one want to use different ones.
The way the support pillars are also supported in between, makes one think, a real roller coaster have been studied and some of the same engineering techniques used with the design of the set. When the build of the top level on the first side started, I wasn’t sure how the wheels would be used to get the carts running, but in the
end it made sense. Having been fortunate enough to have experienced some real roller coaster rides, the wheels to used to keep on pushing for momentum is really well linked in to the rest of the motion that can either be hand handled or motorised.
When I got to this point, I realised one of the bags of track is missing. Needless to say, kudos to the LEGO® brand as I had an online chat on the Friday night (US team still awake) and 3 business days later, all my track was delivered by DHL (this were faster than some local deliveries sometimes take).
The level of detail in the booklet made me wonder if this is really a complete Creator Expert set as my 8 year old nephew was able to build some sections without supervision. The part count fits criteria, but the difficulty of the build not really.
I can’t remember when last I found LEGO® printed torsos, while the theme park employees in this set are all employed by LEGO®.
I did however found the spacing of the letters to be a challenge and had to look about 3 times to make sure I get the spacing right.
Previous builds in Creator sets of wording have mostly been done as part of the building design with the exception of the Diner and now the Coaster. The Coaster are done with some fence at the back on which the words clip on.
Building on and getting even more curious on how this will run with mostly gravity and the pulling up of the steep hill, the set did turn out to be very big – it measures over 53cm high, 90cm wide and 41cm deep. It does pose some challenge in moving it or even finding a place to put in down.
The smaller assemblies of the garden, ticket booth and candy floss stand were all basic and similar to other city sets. The use of the beehive mold as candy floss did however stand out as a good use of the part.
The constructions of the carts was one I really enjoyed, as this is different to the train format that is used in the Friends sets. They do really flow nicely on the tracks and the use of gravity in the set is something that amazed me.
Operating it took me some four times to get my timing right with the manual turning of the leavers, but at least the instructions to get it on the power functions motor is included and next thing to do for me on this set.
Following some other pages, there have been great attemptsto combine more than one of the official sets, and even one where three are used to build a loop. This set is really one to get, and at the local price of +/-R4700, a set in my opinion well worth its value.
While busy with the one, I had to test and try the other that is available, so with the same shipment I got my hands on the Joker Manor (70922).
Not being a real super hero fan, this set intrigued me because of the coaster. Surprised that the whole build was mainly about the detail on the manor and the coaster seemed just to be a nice add-on, I did enjoy the detail that this set have in store. I also think that this is a set where with some small automation, the coaster can be made to run, as gravity only allow for a small portion of it to run freely.
The set in itself had some more recent pieces and the use of some techniques helped that this is also a set that I can recommend to get.
The set is very colourful and was really a fun build.
To complete the roller coaster ride, I had to get the Creator 3 in 1 coaster (31084) as well. Although I started off with the ultimate sets, I was really surprised that with all the available insights, only one of the three builds in this sets is really worth building. The pirate detail made the build fun, but I really think LEGO® could have done a tat more in creating alternative options for the builder.
All three the sets have the coaster rails that can in integrated and carts that can run on them. It won’t be long before this is used to build a gigantic roller coaster or even part of a Great Ball Contraption.
(LEGO® Expert Roller Coaster photo credit – Laraine Rabie Photography)
