One of the good things about pre-Christmas season is that it brings some opportunities to fulfill your LEGO desires and get your fix cheap because there are lots of special promotions and discounts even in your friendly neighborhood grocery store. Sifting through the info flyers this weekend reminded me that I had this little gem in my collection already, so I’m posting my thoughts on it just in case someone might consider it as a small Christmas present and is looking for an opinion.
I got the Pizza Cart (60150) set in October when it was on sale in a large drugstore’s toy department for something like 12 Euros and that’s what it is typically being sold for in those promotions I mentioned as well. That also is the sweet spot that I’d consider a fair price, given that the model is basically a “shake box to assemble” simple affair. That’s not supposed to say it’s bad or any of that, it’s just not going to keep you busy for long and the suggested retail price of 20 Euros doesn’t feel warranted in that regard.
I don’t do much City stuff, but the overall building style seems very prototypical/ stereotypical and judging from photos is used pretty much on every van-like vehicle of this type and size these days with only the details varying. Still, I think it’s nice, regardless, since overall it makes for a very balanced appearance and could be interpreted as many different car models from different manufacturers without explicitly hinting at a specific one.
The big difference and standout feature is of course the color scheme. For me as a German it’s a bit awkward, as the yellow body and red trim are too reminiscent of the postal service/ DHL parcel delivery vehicles that drive around here. Yes, for a while they were in fact even using a Dark Red in parts, which makes this even more of a strange coincidence. LEGO‘s overcranked color corrections on their promotional photos and the packages to me also made it look like the yellow was in fact the more orange-y Bright Light Orange, but that’s not the case. It’s really just plain old Yellow.
Either way, based on my gut feeling I would have preferred a different color combination, but of course it’s clear that this could then feel just as odd to people from other countries where those same post vehicles are Blue, White, Orange and so on. Perhaps prominently using a third color on the exterior would have avoided some of that? Dunno. In any case, to me the car just doesn’t spell “pizza truck”. I can’t get over those years of subconscious conditioning. 😉
Arguably this can also be attributed to the lack of some details and decoration. Granted, I never use them, but the sticker sheet on this set is rather sparse and not particularly well designed. There are for instance no sticker for the large rear panel or the bonnet. Usually this type of car is covered all over the place with self-promotion for the foods offered, has chalk-boards to write on the prizes or printed posters with that info and then some….
For all intents and purposes, this should look like a super-busy vehicle that hits the road every day and has a bit of a rustic charme. It’s also missing a standee that could have had this pricing info or prominently featured an arrow and some text to point the people to the delicious food and a garbage bin would have been nice, too.
The interior is not particularly logical, being that it suggests pizza comes out of a small microwave like oven. There is also no real workbench, no fridge/ freezer and any number of kitchen utilities…. Most puzzling, though, is the fact that there isn’t even a door to get inside there. Given the limitations of the small size and the simplicity of constructions those are forgivable omissions, it just feels incomplete to me.
The winged flaps/ doors are designed nicely and even have smooth inverted tiles to stabilize the connections on the undersides. What’s not so nice is the construction of the hinge. You can really see how the middle segment with the two hinge elements formed this kind of pattern and then they filled it in left and right with some modified tiles to make it look continuous. It doesn’t make much sense for a million reasons, though, and I would have preferred had they just raised the roof one plate height and faired over everything with tiles to disguise the hinges.
My article probably makes it sound terrible, but I’m really just nitpicking over minor issues. Taken at face value and what the set is meant for it is delivering what you expect. It’s meant to be a playable set to put in your city, not something to store and admire in your showcase and it does this job pretty decently. It’s a solid build that doesn’t distract with fancies and despite not being ultimately realistic offers good play value along with some interesting parts in nice colors. For 12 Euros you can’t go wrong with it, it’s just that I would spend my money on other sets if the price was any higher than that.
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