I sat down with my boys a while back to build the new LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 79104 Shellraiser Street Chase
set. When I first heard that LEGO was coming out with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sets, to say that I was excited was an understatement. The Turtles were a favourite of mine when I was a kid, and actually it wasn’t until I heard of the LEGO sets that I knew there was a new cartoon on Nickelodeon.
I will start with my overall impressions, and then go into the finer points. The set has 620 pieces, retails for $59.99 USD ($74.99 CDN) and comes with a total of 5 minifigures. I would definitely recommend this set to any TMNT fan, and actually also for those looking for a parts pack…even with this being a licenced theme set the price point is very good for the amount of pieces you get. This is a very well-designed set in terms of playability and ruggedness. The finished product is a nicely sized Shellraiser with a fair amount of play features, and a small, but very cool bad-guy truck.
The Build
I will admit to using child labour for this part, as I pretty much let Tate build it for me. (Well honestly I don’t think he would have let me build it even if I wanted to). I did follow along with him the entire time, and apart from a few points where he had placed a few pieces incorrectly, he was able to build the entire set in about an hour and a half. He was able to follow the instructions very well, so clearly adult LEGO fans wouldn’t have any issues with them. The one thing that really stood out for me was the use of some nice building techniques. We aren’t talking blow your mind SNOT or anything, but there certainly were not any shortcuts taken. In particular with the bad-guy pizza delivery truck, as a secondary part of the set, I was actually surprised by how cool the little model ends up…it is exceedingly fun to zoom around!
The Parts
There was a total of 5 poly bags along with the sticker sheet, two tires and vehicle base. The minifigs were a highlight for both me and the boys. The turtles are so brilliantly designed, and I really love the fact that they used different shades of green for each of them. The baddies are also nothing to sneeze at, and are another example of ever-increasing quality of figure design and detail that LEGO has been churning out. The fact that Dog Pound has standard fig legs with the oversized torso works so perfectly, and does make me laugh a little bit too. Obviously the highlight of the bricks themselves are the new olive green ones. But there is a very nice selection of smaller pieces and commonly used parts that actually makes this set a pretty good choice for parting out. That being said, we have had the set for going on 2 months now and Tate still won’t let me strip it for pieces.
Final Thoughts
The set is an absolute hoot to play with. The Shellraiser has a tonne of neat play features: the roof is removable, there are flip-out computer panels and weapon racks, the rocket launcher on the roof, and the cherry on top is most definitely the adjustable wheels to allow it to roll on railroad (subway) track. After two months of being played with hard by my boys the set is still going strong, with only the red garbage can missing (Milo has a thing for garbage cans and won’t tell us where he put it). If you are a TMNT fan of any kind, you NEED to buy this set…and if you are just looking for parts, well, it is still a good choice.
It should also be noted the comic strip box art was done by TBB’s own Paul Lee.
Check out my full photoset for all the pictures.
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