LEGO City’s Rides subtheme is simply brilliant and brilliantly simple

A new experiment for the LEGO City theme pays off fantastically, with four miniature vehicles that provide chunky and satisfying fun for fans of all ages.

While ostensibly pitched at younger LEGO fans and clearly aimed at fitting comfortably into smaller hands, the new Rides sets are downright charming no matter how old you might be. These sets are likely to prove a huge hit – not least because of the clever reuse of the beloved space baby minifigure elements in multiple new colours which almost feel worth the price of the sets alone.

It’s not hard to see what the LEGO Group is hoping to achieve with these Rides. These are cheap builds that come in small boxes and contain fewer than 100 elements apiece. Their instructions feature the same literal handholding that’s present with 4+ sets, and to heft one, it’s clear that they’ve been designed to fit snugly into a small hand. These are intended as an introduction to more complicated LEGO sets for anyone who’s graduated from DUPLO and got their fill of the most basic 4+ builds, but still needs a degree of simplicity from their LEGO sets.

The great irony here is that, because of their younger target audience, these sets have clearly been designed with a lot of care and attention to detail – and that makes them hugely enjoyable no matter how old the builder might be. There is no upper age limit on enjoying something that is trying so hard to deliver a positive experience.

There’s a real joy to the shape and the feel of these vehicles. They each have boxy, blocky designs with large wheels and simple driver’s cabs. These are not intended to look realistic, but there’s no denying that they look incredibly fun. There’s almost an air of nostalgia for old-school LEGO design here – not necessarily any concrete reference to the past, but something about the small boxes, limited piece counts and angular designs calls back to bygone eras when the LEGO System was inherently a lot more simplistic.

When a lot of the complexities of modern LEGO building are stripped back – both in terms of techniques and pieces that would confuse a younger fan just learning to build for the first time – we end up with sets that hit at the core of what makes LEGO so fun in the first place. These are uncomplicated, charming builds, and at their price point, it’s hard not to fall in love with them.

The smaller scale could potentially have been made to accommodate a minifigure – although it might have been a tight squeeze – but instead, the LEGO designers have taken a different and very welcome approach. Each of these Rides sets are driven by a small baby minifigure, wearing the helmet head element typically used for baby astronauts.

Not only does this choice make these sets absolutely adorable, it also provides a variety of different colour options for these baby minifigure elements that haven’t been available before. Given how cheap these sets are, there will no doubt be plenty of LEGO fans who feel the babies alone will be enough to justify picking these up.

60481 Police Truck is by far the curviest of the sets, with a sloped roof and front bonnet (or hood for any Americans reading this), but even so, it’s not exactly what you would call aerodynamic. It’s tall, though, and contains an extra jumper stud in the back, so that any naughty baby that gets arrested can be safely carted off to prison.

60482 Fire Engine is even less aerodynamic – it can be difficult to remember which is the front of this set and there will no doubt be plenty of younger LEGO fans who choose to drive it around backwards as this feels like the more logical way to push it around. Nevertheless, the sloped ladder element is a highlight from this build, especially as it can be detached for additional play scenarios.

While the police and fire service offerings are fine, 60483 Loader feels like the Rides set that best utilises this miniature form factor. With a backhoe and bucket, this is the largest of these sets, and feels like the perfect stopgap between a 4+ set with big, simple bricks, and a more detailed City digger or excavator. For anyone considering picking up any of these sets for the target five-year-old audience, this feels like the one that has the most play potential.

Rounding out this initial wave of sets, 60484 Gaming Car feels like an odd choice as it’s the only one that doesn’t represent a vehicle that’s used for a particular job. It’s not a public service vehicle, nor part of a construction site – it’s simply a car with a games controller print on the roof.

Nevertheless, it’s also by far the coolest of these builds, and its chunky design calls to mind a shrunken Dodge Charge – especially thanks to the raised supercharger which almost gives this a green Fast and Furious vibe. The car also shoots lightning out of its exhaust, because why not?

Each of these small builds has a lot of personality to it, and while they may be primarily aimed at younger LEGO fans, there’s something here for fans of any age to enjoy.

Our honest opinion: The Rides sets are chunky, uncomplicated fun that serve as definitive proof of what makes LEGO such an enjoyable toy for fans of all ages.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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